What Do You Need?
I am working to greatly limit the word “need” from my vocabulary. Many things that I find myself saying I need are really not necessities in the strictest sense of the word. I have a lot of things that I think I need. And some may be necessary for my comfort. But they are not really necessary to sustain my life.
When I was growing up, my favorite Bible verse was Philippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” I still love the thought of that, but I think sometimes I inadvertently change the word “needs” to “wants.” Yet nowhere does Yahweh say that He will grant my selfish desires.
I am constantly learning what it means to surrender, to give up my will and embrace His will. This is probably the hardest part of Christianity since we are born selfish and proud. But God desires to strip those things away and teach us to rely on Him for everything. The fact is that “All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”
As you go through this coming week, I challenge you to pay attention to how many times you say, “I need ______.” You may find that you don’t say this as often as I do, but you may notice that you say it a lot. If the latter is true, learn to say instead, “I would like __________.” You will probably find that your needs are not as great as you thought they were.
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