Envy.

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." 1 Timothy 6:6-8(NKJV)

Truth be told, I don't even know where to begin on this subject. I feel like my head is just so full of thoughts just wanting to be written down that I might explode. This is the reason why I am awake at 6am, because these thoughts won't let me sleep.

I've been dealing with envy for the past few weeks, okay my whole life, but it's really been evident in the past few weeks. I have been very upset at why certain people all granted certain things, while others are dealt nothing. Why does this one person get everything that I could desire while I still here looking on? The answer came to me tonight, in some random blog that I happen to stumble upon. It was like God reached through the monitor and slapped with across the face with this reality: we don't need these things. That's what they are: THINGS. They are tangible, temporary pieces that will eventually wear out, break, and become obsolete.

Regardless of what your belief is in the afterlife, the same truth applies to everyone: we cannot take all these things with us when we die. That means I cannot take my shiny new Blackberry or you cannot take your brand new BMW with you. When you die, you die naked and alone. Your status and what you owned in this life means nothing when you are toe tagged and put into a freezer. We are all treated the same in death.

There is a saying that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions" and that's so true. Good natured, well meaning people have good intentions about starting something. They want to volunteer at a soup kitchen, or they want to donate money to a local charity. But it's a slippery slope if we aren't careful. Soon, we will start bragging about how many hours we spend at the soup kitchen or how much money we've given to such and such charity and the focus becomes on you rather than the good works. You start looking around and seeing if people are watching, making sure they see how good of a person you are. And I will be the first to admit, I have done this and am very guilty of it. Everything that I have spoken of, I have done at one point or another. It's human nature and it's what society teaches us. Have the best car, the most up to date phone, name brand clothes, donate the most money and make sure everyone knows about it. That's not the way it should be.

I'm tired of trying to stay up with the latest everything. I'm tired of having arguments over Apple vs. PC or republican vs. democrats because it's just meaningless. I will bet everything I have (which is a $1.50) that when we get to the end of our lives, and whoever we think is going to judge us, I doubt they are going to ask, "now, what was your political affiliation?" because it doesn't MEAN anything!

Do good in this world but don't look around and see if others are watching. Do it because it's right. Volunteer to help with the Gulf Coast rescue, donate money to an organization that means something to you, go on missions trips, visit a shut in, give money/food to a homeless man, do whatever you can to help the earth and the people in it. What I am trying to say is, stuff is meaningless and to argue over it is even worse. I'm not preaching here, this is mostly a revelation to myself. I'm not a saint, never claimed to be one, but I'm going to try and focus on life and the people in it, not the things. Because that is what this life that we are given is about, what we do with the time here on Earth. If we focus on status and technology, we have wasted our lives. Is it nice to have things? Sure, I'll agree. Should it be the center of our lives? No. And that's where mankind as a whole lost its way, we shifted the focus from others to ourselves.

It's time to switch back, don't you think?