Give me more!

I guess it's human nature to always want what we do not have. Whether it be money, possessions, looks, personality, or anything else--if we don't have it, we want it.

Christmas day sitting around with my family opening presents (one person at the time of course, so everyone can see), I remember my cousin saying numerous times "Uh! I wanted one of those!" or "Why didn't I get that!?" You'd think she's 10, right? Nope, my age. She was so occupied with what everyone else had, that she didn't take time to appreciate what she had been given. We're all guilty of it. Never satisfied with what we have.

When we're not satisfied with what we have, we don't value it as much. For example, my family has season tickets to Carolina basketball games, and no one can ever understand when I decide not to go to a game. A friend recently reminded me that there are many people who'd give their first born for those tickets. But I've always had them, and I guess as a result its easy not to value them as much.

I think it goes a lot deeper than just material possessions, though. All the "keeping up with the Jones'" stuff, wanting what we don't have, is really a manifestation of our insecurities. We want what we don't have because somewhere deep down, we feel that who we are, or what we have, isn't good enough.

The reality is that God has provided a way for us to have ultimate fulfillment through Jesus Christ. In Christ, we lack nothing. He is the only thing that will fill the hole inside of us that tells us that we are not good enough.

This is a reality that I need to grasp more firmly in 2009.