Why Does Everyone Want More Money?

I get it: nicer, bigger, faster, shinier. We’re all chasing after more. But what if we realized that if we just stewarded what we have well, we’d feel rich regardless of our income? Whether you make $30k or $250k, I bet there’s some fat in your budget that could be trimmed. A lot of our spending stems from gluttonous habits, and we stress ourselves into an early grave chasing more—taking on extra jobs, adding side hustles, all in the name of "I need more" or "this isn't comfortable enough." (Silly humans—we’ll touch on comfort another day, lol.) But it’s not more that you need; it’s probably less. Less might give you a decent night's sleep and the clarity you need to steward the money you make better.

The Bible warns us against this mindset in Proverbs 23:4-5: "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness." Instead of pouring our lives into the pursuit of wealth, we should focus on stewardship.

Imagine if we managed what we already have well. If you look around and see closets and rooms piling up with excess, consider what else might be disorganized in your life. How much better could your life be if you organized your money? I mean, create a clear objective for every dollar you earn every month. In the beginning, you might be really bad—laughably bad—but over five years or a decade, you might get pretty damn good. You wouldn’t need a pay raise or anything else to feel rich; you'd likely feel a sense of abundance just by making those changes.

The new cool is being able to live an amazing life with less. You can take beautifully crafted vacations with less, create a peaceful home with less, look fly with less, and get the job done with less. When we steward our money correctly, we might even find ways to add value to our communities. Who can be generous with maximum impact if they’re lathered in debt and poorly managing their income? As 1 Peter 4:10 reminds us, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace."

So, let’s take control. Minimize, declutter, and organize our finances. Shift your focus to getting free by utilizing what you already have, instead of running on the treadmill of needing more income. You might find that true wealth is about quality, not quantity.