How Do I Escape the Endless Cycle of Want?

Feeling lost in today's headlines, seeking God's truth for our chaotic culture. Welcome to Truth Unveiled with Ralph. We'll cut through the noise guiding you to biblical discernment for your faith, your finances and your life.Now here's Ralph Estep Jr. Hello and welcome back to Truth Unveiled with Ralph. Where we try to uncover and apply God's eternal truths to our daily lives.This is the show where we compare culture with biblical truth and biblical wisdom. And I'm your host, Ralph, and I just want to thank you so much for joining me this week. Think of it.Everywhere you turn, the world is whispering the same destructive message. You're not enough. You need more, you need better. And guess what? So many of us are buying right into it. Consider this.The latest phone says your current tech is inadequate. I gotta get the newest iPhone. The trendiest clothes say your old self is outdated.I've got to get the newest styles, even though we got a whole closet full of the old styles. And the must have gadget says your life is incomplete. But the message is clear. You're missing out if you don't buy more. So what do we do?We work harder, we chase faster, we acquire more. Yet for all of our possessions, and man, we've got a ton of possessions, haven't we? We've never felt emptier.Let me ask you right now, do you feel the same way? I know I feel that oftentimes. Let's talk about the paradox, because that's what we're really going to talk about on today's show.It's this great spiritual paradox of our time. We are the most material blessed generation in history. It's true. Think about it for a second. We are the most material blessed generation.But we are also deeply and profoundly discontented. We're surrounded by things promising fulfillment, unlimited options. But have you ever considered the emotional and spiritual costs of those things?Over half of Americans say they feel lonely. Less than half of Americans say they are truly satisfied with life. And the debt driven by acquisition is the shackle of discontent.And that debt just keeps growing and growing with this unsatiable desire for chasing more. And as we chase that more, the further true spiritual peace and contentment completely drift away with us.And we're feeding a God shaped hole in our hearts, if you think about it with things that never meant to fill it. So let's talk about that heart struggle on today's show. Which brings me to this listener question. And I know this struggle is universal, Ralph.I know I should be grateful for what I have, but I still feel discontent. How do I stop wanting more when everything around me tells me I'm not enough until I have more? Wow.That feeling, that nagging need for more, is that voice of the spirit of consumerism.On this show, we talk about culture and biblical truth and see culture saying to us, peace is about owning something, getting that stuff, getting more stuff, where they say, whoever dies with the most toys wins the game. But scripture tells us something else. Scripture says peace comes from surrender and trust in Christ alone, not stuff.So today I want to unpack how to break free from this endless cycle of want. That's what I'm going to cover on today's show.Why about we start with the basics today, and I'm going to say some really bold things today, so buckle up. Number one thing I'm going to say consumerism is idolatry. You're thinking, oh, wait, Ralph has lost it at this point. But this is the truth.See, consumerism is not just a spending habit. A lot of people stop there and say, oh, Ralph, you're just talking about spending. No, it's not. It's a spiritual orientation.It replaces the worship of God with the worship of stuff. Comes at you, doesn't it? Because it whispers the original lie. What's that original lie?It says, is if you acquire this, you'll finally be complete apart from God. See, there's the problem. Idolatry. A lot of people think, oh, that's statues, and that's these are figurines.But that's not what we're talking about there. True idolatry is not statues. It's misplaced trust in our own hearts. See, whatever we trust for peace and satisfaction becomes our God.Let's get right into the word. This comes from the book of Exodus, chapter 20, verse 3. You shall have no other gods before me. That's pretty straightforward, isn't it?But each person driven by inner emptiness is an attempt to find a substitute savior. Let me say something more direct. It's an attempt to find a substitute God.See, when your soul feels heavy or your identity feels threatened, where do you turn first? And I've had to ask myself the same question. Where do I turn first? Is it to the store? Go buy something to fill that desire?Do I get online and go shopping? Do I go over to my closet? Gotta find that nice pair of shoes or those jeans or that new shirt, whatever that looks like. Or is it the throne of God?And see, that's a tough question, right? Second thing. That discontent fuels spiritual decline and Again, I know that's a bold thing to say, but advertising exploits this dissatisfaction.It's all around us, it's shouting at us, it's a noise all around us. It sells the gap in your life. Spend any time on social media and you know what you'll feel?You'll feel gaps because everyone around you will have, oh, look what they've got, Ralph. Oh, they've got this, they've got that. I gotta have it. It's just advertising. And what is it doing?It's causing you dissatisfaction, it's causing you to feel those gaps in your life. And I frame. What I'm gonna talk about right now is the spiritual cycle of consumer problems. It's tragic. And this is what it looks like.Discontent leads to idolatrous desire, which leads to spiritual debt, which just furthers that void, that distance from God, when we are always grasping at something, something more, something extra, a little bit more, something new. When we're always doing that. We can't rest in the sufficiency of Christ. And see, that's the core. As a Christian, what are we supposed to rest in?The sufficiency of Christ. And the only way to break this cycle is by God's promise. Let's get into the Book of Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 5.Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Now, I could stop right there and you could say, ralph, there's the answer. But here's the more important part. Let me continue.Because God has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. See, that's something you can take to the bank. God has made a promise to you. When you stop loving money, when you stop loving stuff, Right?When you're content with what he's already gave me. I was on a show the other day and somebody said, well, how do we teach our kids contentment?I said, teach them to be grateful for what they already have. And I said, because think about like this. A lot of people say, oh, God's promised me. God's promised me this, guys. God never promised you comfort.A lot of people get hung up on that. God promised you provision. And he promised you that he will never leave you nor forsake you. He didn't promise you a brand new car. He promised.He didn't promise you a brand new dress. He didn't promise you the latest shoes, the nicest high heels, the latest tech gadget, the latest iPhone, whatever those things are.He didn't promise you any of that. He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, but be content with what I've given you.Because here's the problem, and this is a key truth I want to just nail right now. The more we feed that desire, the hungrier it becomes. And you know what the only true antidotes are gratitude and trust. So how do we get to that?The third thing I really want to stress today, contentment is learned. You're probably thinking, wait a second. Didn't Paul talk about this? Yeah, Paul didn't say, I bought contentment.Hey, if Paul said, I bought contentment, let's all get our checkbooks out and figure out how to pay for this, right? That's not what he said. What does it say in Philippians, chapter 4, verses 11 to 13? He said this. He said, I have learned to be content.See, my personal belief is the human flesh is not content. The human flesh yearns after more stuff. So we're battling our own bodies. We're battling our own flesh. But what is Paul saying? Think about this.I said this on the interview the other day. Here's Paul in prison. You talk about wanting to be content. Do you think you'd be content in prison?Do you think you have learned contentment by being in prison? Paul is in prison. When he wrote that, he said, I have learned to be content.If you're listening to my voice right now, chances are you're not in prison. So we have all the more reason to be content. But what is he really alluding to?Contentment is tied to Christ because it goes on to say this, and a lot of people don't quote the rest of the scripture. But if you miss the rest of this, you miss the whole point. I have learned to be content. I can do all things through him who gives me strength.Who is he talking about there? He's not talking about himself. He's not talking about the stuff. He's not talking about the people that were keeping the jail cards.He wasn't talking about any of those people. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Who gives you the strength? Christ gives you the strength. Well, think about this.I've been going through a metamorphosis in my body. I've been trying to get physically stronger. Well, to get stronger, I got to do something, right? I got to exercise those muscles.Well, contentment is a spiritual muscle.Well, the only way you're going to grow that spiritual muscle, that spiritual contentment, is through gratitude, through trust, and through perspective. Now, one of the things I like to talk about on the show is like, how do I make this happen, Rob?What are some practical and direct things that I can do? Here's one thing you can do right now. Start thinking about what I call the gratitude inventory. Like, oh, Ralph's tying finance into this.This is what I've been, I've been doing finance for 30 years. So even in spiritual things, my mind goes there. So let's talk about this, the gratitude inventory.The next time you feel that impulse to buy something. Now listen, if it's essential, you can take a pass here. If you need water, survive. If you need food, clothing. Now clothing, we can argue that one.But shelter, if it's something essential, don't to pause right then. But if it's non essential, here's what I want you to do. I want you to pause for 60 seconds and just take a spiritual inventory.You're like, Ralph, what does that look like right away? Pause. I'm looking online. I'll give you a great example of this.I just got an email before I click record today, Apple just released their brand new iPad Pro. And Ralph is a tech guy. Ralph loves all the newest tech stuff. So first thing I'm thinking is, oh man, I gotta get this thing right.But here's what I want you to do. 60 seconds. I want you to list three non material blessings you already have that meet that same emotional need. So I'm thinking about this iPad.What's the emotional need? Oh, it's new, right? It's cool, it's shiny. Oh, I can show it off. Look what Ralph's got. I got the latest one. It's got the coolest new technology.It's got the Wi Fi 7 and it's got the this and the that and you know what I'm talking about. But what are the blessings that I already have? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I already have that relationship with Christ.See, the world says this big bold lie. It says, upgrade to feel better. Ralph, you got to have that new iPad, dude. Everybody's going to have it. It's got the latest and the greatest.It's got the fancy new Retina display you talk about. It's got it all. What does the scripture say? Appreciate God's provision to feel spiritually full.So start there, take that pause and just take a spiritual inventory. What are you trying to fill? Because nine times out of 10, when you're going to buy something, you're trying to fill a void.Nothing I want to talk about right now. And this is not Going to be a popular sentiment. Simplicity restores focus. See, I think sometimes we get too caught up in the complications of life.And a lot of people say, well, where are you going with this, Ralph? Let me just tell you this. Spiritual simplicity is not merely getting rid of things that could be easy.I was having a conversation with somebody today. We were talking about being a minimalist. She said, ralph, how amazing and liberating would it be if we didn't have all this stuff around us?She said, why do we need all this stuff? I said, that's a really good point. We were talking about people who've decided to sell their homes. They've sold everything.And honestly, they're living in vans, they're living in motorhomes, they're living in RVs, and they're just traveling. They don't have a permanent home. And she goes, ralph, that's really appealing to me. I'm looking at my home. I got all this stuff.I don't use most of this stuff. I got closets full of clothes. First of all, most of it doesn't fit because I've gained a little weight or I've lost a little weight.You know what that looks like. But think about this for a second. Spiritual simplicity. It's liberation from the tyranny of maintenance and distraction.We live in this constant tyranny of just trying to maintain this lifestyle, and we're constantly distracted. And see, Jesus himself modeled this. We want to be like Jesus. I love those wristbands that came out a little while ago. What would Jesus do?Well, let's ask that question right now. What would Jesus do? As we talk about simplicity, think about this for a little bit. Jesus owned nothing.Nowhere in the scripture does it say Jesus owned a home. Nowhere does it say Jesus owned a car. Now, I know that's silly. Didn't have cars then. But nowhere did it say that.If we think about it, he owned nothing. But, dare I say, he accomplished everything. Do you feel that right now? I know I feel it. Let's look at the Book of Luke, chapter 12, verse 15.Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. I can't say it any better than the scripture does.Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Jesus modeled this. He owned nothing. He had no worldly possession.Sure, he probably had a cloak and he had some clothing and he had some knickknacks from his mom.And, you know, you get the idea I'm being funny here a little bit, but he didn't own a home, he didn't own a bunch of stuff, but he accomplished everything, didn't he? Let me give you an analogy. When your heart is cluttered with chasing and managing, your soul runs slow. There's only so much bandwidth there.And the less clutter we carry, the more clearly we can hear God's voice. And see, that's what we're talking about today. This is one of the big things I think all of us struggle with. There's so much noise around us.Do we ever take the time to listen for God's voice? Listen, I'm guilty as you are. I'm preaching to me today. Be still. I love that scripture says, be still and know that I am God.Simplicity, that simple act of simplicity can restore your focus on the eternal. See, it's so easy to get stuck in the mire of culture, the stuff all around us.When you're gaining your last breath, your last thoughts are not going to be, do I have that new iPad? Do I have that new car? Do I have that beautiful home? It's going to be, where am I going next? What is my eternal resting place? Which leads me to this.It's all about seeking God first. See, the true countercultural mandate is to intentionally put God first. Because what are we all doing?And listen, I'm not judging you, I'm judging me. We're putting the stuff ahead of it, aren't we? Culture is telling us to put all that stuff that more that buying in front of God.But what does Matthew 6:33 say to us, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. It's all about where we start, right? It doesn't say, but seek first the stuff.It doesn't say, well, seek first the accumulation or the more or the great. All the stuff that culture is talking about. It says, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and then all of this will be given to you as well.What does that look like practically before your next big decision? Listen, we make big decisions and small decisions every day. Ask yourself this.This will humber you if you ask it what honors God instead of this question, what do I want again? We're battling the flesh, aren't we? We have an innate survival mechanism. All of us are designed as human beings to survive.That makes us selfish, doesn't it? We want to be surviving. So the initial state of man. The flesh says, I want to do what I want. I want that new iPad. I want that new car.I Want that new dress, I want those new shoes. I want that new handbag. But what honors God? What are we putting first? See, when God is first, here's the secret.He reorders our hearts and we battle with these wants. But when he reorders our hearts, our wants find their rightful secondary position. Him first, our wants second. But what's the promise?But then he's going to give it all to you. When you put him first, guess what? You're gonna get it all. Jesus owned nothing. He conquered the world. So what's the ultimate solution?I could have just said the next sentence I'm fixing to say and it would have been the whole episode today. The ultimate solution. Your worth isn't found in what you own. Hear me on this. It's found in whose you are.You will never own enough to be greater than who you are in Christ. And the reason we feel that nagging emptiness. Grace, say something kind of harsh.Is because our soul, our very core soul, was designed for a relationship with God. And if we don't put that first, if we ignore that. What did I say earlier? That hole in your heart. So many of us feel this hole all the time.There's only one person that can fill that because it's got a special shape. It's God shaped. There's no amount of buying that can ever fill it. You will never have enough. I've tried that. Tell you a little bit about my story.I grew up around wealth. My dad was very successful. My mom wasn't so much.But I had this weird dichotomy as a kid with wealth on the weekends and then living with mom during the week. And I saw the way my dad lived. I just assumed, hey, you got to have nice cars, you got to have nice watches, you got to have nice stuff.And for so many years of my life, that's what I chased after. Because I said, you know what? I got this void. I got this hole in my soul and I'm going to go fill it. I'm going to go buy a new house.I bought the house and guess what? The void was still there. So what did I do? I went and bought a second home. I got to have a vacation home because clearly I hadn't figured it out.I'm going to go buy the second home that's going to fill this void. It didn't work. Culture's telling me I gotta go get more. I gotta go buy a nice car. And not only a nice car, I gotta go buy a shiny new Corvette.I get the Corvette. I drive it off the lot. I'm driving home, I'm checking. People are checking me, like, this is great. I get home, pulling in the driveway, guess what?The void's still there. And see, all it was doing was building this financial trap. It was showing me the symptom. But the root problem was that separation from God.See, I never put him first. I put me first. What do I want? I never asked, what does he want? What's impactful to Him? And listen, I'm not saying I got it all figured out.You're not hearing that right now.But what I'm saying to you right now, as you listen to this, right now, I will tell you that no amount of stuff, no amount of spending, no amount of chasing after what the world promises you, will ever fill the void that you have that only Christ can fill. But here's the good news.The most beautiful part of this today, and I'm going to talk about, is that God has already provided the one and only fulfillment that you need. And that's Jesus Christ. See, Jesus Christ came to pay the debts for our sin. We are debtors in sin.Your discontentment, your idolatry, he'll pay against all that. He'll wipe the sake clean. He offers you a clean slate, a new heart, and the absolute peace of knowing that in him you are enough.You're never going to find that in culture. You're never going to find that in stuff. You're never going to find it. And going searching after something that is elusive to you.And if you're recognizing right now that you've been running to things instead of the Creator you've been chasing after, just like I've done for so long. Are you ready to stop doing that? This could very well be your moment. You might be thinking, ralph, man, I have tried this. I have tried to buy.I've tried to win. I've tried to do all these things. I've been doing everything that culture has told me to do.If you've had enough chasing, I want to invite you right now to close the door on the emptiness of this world and step into a life of eternal truth. So right now, if you've never accepted the gift of salvation, I want to invite you to pray with me right now.We're going to talk about this in just a second. We're going to do what's called the prayer of salvation. What does that mean? A lot of people say, ralph, I don't know what that means.I don't go to the same kind of church you go to. The Bible tells us that when you accept Christ as your personal savior, he will wipe the slate clean.He'll present you before God white as snow is what the scripture says. So if you're ready to do that right now, I want you to pray this simple prayer right from your heart. It's not complicated.Just pray this simple prayer that the Lord will be your Lord and Savior from this point forward. Here we go. Let's pray this together. Heavenly Father, I come to you today recognizing that I have chased after things that will never satisfy me.And I confess that I'm a sinner and that my very efforts to find peace have failed. I put myself first and I've listened to those bold lies of this world. It's time to change that. I want to do that right now. Right now.I believe that Jesus Christ is your son. And I believe that he died on the cross for my sins and he rose again to give me new life.So today, right at this very moment, I turn from my old ways and those idols of this world that have enshackled me, Lord. And I invite Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior.Wash me clean, make me new, and fill me with your Holy Spirit from this day forward, Lord, I choose to follow you and trust you to provide all that I truly need. And I just thank you for the gift of eternal life. And I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.Well, listen, if you prayed that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of God. There are celebrations all over heaven right now for those who have chosen to accept Christ as their personal savior. That's what it says in the book.And guess what? That cycle of consumerism is broken. You can do this now. Because now you've made a decision to put God at the center of your life.You've made the decision to put God first. Now listen, this isn't going to happen miraculously overnight. You're going to need to get help with this. And I want you to reach out to me.If you've made that decision today. I would love to hear from you. You go right to our website. That's truthunveiledwithRalph.com/decision. It's really that simple.I just want you to send me a simple message. Hey, Ralph, I heard your prayer today, man. I prayed that today. Or maybe you're still struggling. You're like, I'm not sure I'm quite ready.Ralph, I would love to sit down and talk with you. I'd love to do a zoom call with you, whatever that looks like for you, we can just exchange emails. That's fine with me too.Or maybe you're like, Ralph, I got a friend who's a good Christian. Go see them today. Go talk to them. Reach out to them. Find a good Bible believing church where you are. Let's build on this momentum.Why about we pray together now? Together. Lord, we just thank you for reminding us that true contentment doesn't come from possessions. We tried that. It just left us empty.But it comes from your presence. So today, help us to resist the pull of consumerism and the lies that say we're not enough. Because Lord, we know in you we have all things.Teach us to find peace in simplicity, Lord. Joy and gratitude and fulfillment in obedience. And we ask this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.I want to encourage you right now as you step out this week, remember these three truths. Number one, true contentment is in having more. It's in wanting less of what the world offers us. That's number one. Second thing, seek first.God's kingdom and spiritual peace will follow. And number three, simplify, steward and stay thankful. That is where true joy and liberation true, truly live.And if today's message has helped lift a burden from your soul, I want to encourage you right now to share it with somebody else.We're getting ready to get into the Christmas season, the holidays, and a lot of people are going to be out there chasing after stuff, thinking they're going to find the answer in the shopping aisles, on the online sites and those shopping carts online. But guess what, you're never going to find it there. And I'd love to encourage you. Go right to our website, check out all of our shows there.It's truthunveiledwithRalph.com and today I just want your life to reflect Christ's priorities and maybe you feel like you can help us. I would love to see you support the show.The more people we can get to support the show, the more we can advertise, the more we can reach out and find more people who are battling this culture right now in their own lives. Think about what we've talked about today. I would love to bless others with the message that we've shared.If you can support the show, you can do that by going to Truth Unveiled with Ralph. Go there and do that if you have the ability or if anything else, just pray for me. Pray for this ministry, pray for this show.Pray that it would reach people. Send a text message, send an email, just say, hey, listen, you got to hear this message. I know you feel empty. I felt that too.Listen to this message today. Encourage them go to our website, truthunveiledwithRalph.com I want to just thank you so much for joining me today.I know we got a little heavy today today, but the Lord put this on my heart that we needed to talk about this, especially in this season. So God bless you. Go in peace and you have a great day today.