email

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. –Pliny the Younger

You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The word 'habituation' is used to describe how someone gets used to something. Money can be seen as similar to drugs, getting some usually makes you want more. While riches can deceive us even before we ever get any, actually getting some can start a process of reinforcement that locks our thinking into patterns of acquisition that make consideration of other things increasingly less likely.

We have a continual appetite for food because our body depletes the nutrients we consume and additional quantities are required. If we derive a pleasurable sensation from the consumption of food, it is possible to over-eat because we have combined both a nutritional need and a desire to experience a pleasurable sensation. In a similar way, we work to obtain the money we need to sustain our existence (food, rent, clothing, etc.). However, we can also derive a pleasurable sensation from buying things or having beyond necessity. Like over-eating, we may not be able to determine where we cross over to an unhealthy pursuit of 'riches'.

It is when appetites for pleasurable sensations are indulged that narcotic effects are first noticed. A person can ride a roller coaster and experience all sorts of sensations. However, if one rides the roller coaster a second time, the experience is diminished and the expectation of sensation is partially unfulfilled contributing to what can be a growing 'hunger'.

When a person forms in his mind that he needs what riches can provide, his hunger becomes a funnel excluding temperance or balance. God is forgotten, others are ignored, and all that is left is a consuming 'self'. Even in the unlikely event riches are actually obtained, the consuming hunger is never satiated and only grows ever larger.

But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. - 1 Timothy 5:6

Information about Christianity and the Christian life.