MATERIALISM – HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE MATERIALISTIC OR NOT
Materialism is believing that all there is to life is what can be seen. It is thinking that the immaterial world does not exist, let us dive in and dissect this amazing topic.
- What is materialism
- How to identify a materialistic person
- Merits and demerits of materialism
- How to quit a materialistic life.
CONVERSATION WITH A FRIEND
HE: I do not want to marry her, she’s so materialistic.
ME: What do you mean? Can you give me an example of what you define as materialism?
She wants every good thing she sees, she doesn’t seem to be contented with what she has, was his quick response to me.
Okay, I understand and it makes you spend money on unnecessary things, right?
Yes! Savings aren’t in her diary, it is eat and die tomorrow.
Mark: Do you believe in God’s provision? I asked him this to get clarity on how he thinks.
No ma’am, I believe I have to work things by myself and so the one I see, I hold it tightly and ensure it is maximized.
I told him this – Yes, you are right to maximize what you have but what I understand you mean, is it seeing is believing?
Exactly! Until I see it, I am not into it.
You too are materialistic were my exact words to him as I continued, but just that you do not see and the world doesn’t define materialism in this light.
How am I materialistic? …. With a bulgy eye…
Pay attention, I will teach you what materialism is.
DEFINITION
Oxford languages defined materialism as a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
And Dictionary Britannica defined it as – in philosophy, the view that all facts are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.
A layman’s definition would be someone who is fashion-conscious or someone who is comfort-conscious and doesn’t want any form of discomfort.
Someone who does not see tomorrow or someone who is vested in only what the eyes can see.
While all the definitions are correct, a look at what materialism is from the scriptures will show us exactly what we are dealing with.
We also believe that someone poor is not materialistic especially if he is contented in poverty.
But someone can be poor and materialistic just like someone can be contented and materialistic.
Materialism is not the opposite of poverty or contentment. Materialism is the opposite of spirituality.
In life, there are two realities or we can say two worlds.
- The spiritual world
- And the physical world
Colossians 1:16
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” KJV
There is an invisible realm which we can call the spiritual world, which we can also call the immaterial realm.
Ephesians 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: KJV
The spiritual realm is where God has placed ALL our blessings.
Acts 4:24
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” KJV
This verse shows how we must worship God.
Genesis 1:27
“So God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” KJV
God made us in His image and likeness, so we are Spirits.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
“And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” KJV
So, we are 3 in one being.
We are Spirits, we have a soul and we live in a body
Man does not have a spirit, man is a spirit then we have a soul and we live in a body. Because the part of us that is in the image of God is our Spirit.
When we die, we leave our body behind and continue the journey of life.
ETERNAL LIFE
Every spirit has everlasting life, spirits do not die.
Spirits were made in the image of God and so, spirits do not die just like God does not die.
Death as we experience over here is not the death of spirit but the death of the body and the continuation of life over there.
Hebrews 9:27
“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”
So, death is not the end of the spirit but the end of the body.
However, there are spiritual death and physical death, what we just examined was physical death.
Eternal life is not everlasting life!
Every spirit lives forever, it all depends on where the rest of the life will be spent.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” KJV
Eternal life is what Jesus gives us at rebirth which is a reconciliation with the Father.
Romans 6:23
“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” KJV
It is a gift we receive from God when we give our lives to Christ and we do not have to wait at death to have it, we already have it.
Hence we give our lives to Christ, we have eternal life which is the life of God called ZOE.
Remember, eternal life is different from everlasting life.
Every spirit lives everlasting life but not every spirit has eternal life which is the life of God.
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DEATH?
Death is separation.
Spiritual death is the separation of the Spirit from God.
This is what God told Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:3
“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
They died spiritually, the day they ate it but they were still physically alive.
Now, we all were born spiritually dead because the channel through which we should get our spirit alive short-circuited us.
But we get this spiritual life back through Jesus Christ.
With the above explanation, I hope I have been able to explain to you that there is a spirit realm which is the immaterial/invisible world/realm, and the physical which is the material/visible world/realm.
WHAT THEN IS MATERIALISM?
It is at this juncture, that I will define materialism.
Materialism is living life as though there is no spiritual realm. It is being focused only on the material world, hence the name.
When our actions, thoughts, and life center only on the physical world, then that is materialism.
Many times, a poor man may meet a woman who was raised in affluence, who doesn’t understand how to manage resources, and who lives life in the realm of abundance, this man may be tempted to think that the woman is materialistic especially if he doesn’t understand what materialism is.
They just live in two different economic worlds and that’s not materialism at all.
Many poor folks accuse the rich guys of being materialistic because they have the good things of life but many of the rich guys understand faith and how to call those things that are not in the physical realm as though they were.
Materialism is living a faithless life.
LET US X-RAY SOME MORE
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” KJV
Faith is simply believing the invisible and materializing the immaterial.
Making visible the invisible.
How can one bring forth what he doesn’t believe in?
Remember this scripture in Ephesians 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” KJV
We have all the spiritual blessings in Christ – all of it. But we may not have all of it in the physical realm.
Faith is the transport system and carries these spiritual blessings to this side of eternity.
How can one access them when all you believe in is what you see with your physical eyes? The person will live a limited life without God principally and without the blessings of God.
Seeing is believing is a lie!
Because the real blessings are not seen first, they are manifested,
Even the atheist who says there is no God has a business which he got an idea of(immaterial) and then, he worked it out in the physical to become a product/service.
He has faith and he applies faith often, only that he doesn’t even recognize it, this is why it takes only a fool to say that there is no God,
Psalm 14:1
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, none doeth good.” KJV
There is the invisible and if you believe that, then you also should believe easily that there is God.
HOW TO IDENTIFY A MATERIALISTIC PERSON
A materialistic person can be identified by their words and actions. Anyone who believes only in the material world is a materialistic person.
Having learned this, would you still tag the person you call materialistic as one?
Most times, what we call materialistic is covetousness. It is an insatiable desire for the things of the world.
Materialism goes deeper than covetousness.
It is denying the existence of God and the spiritual realm.
The denial of the spiritual blessings of God made available to us.
And it is denying ourselves and reducing our being to just being physical.
Even covetousness has its roots in materialism because the covetous wants things in the world that he could lose his soul to get because he doesn’t design the immaterial world and life after now.
MERITS/DEMERITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
- Missing out on the essence of God
- Gaining the world – the materialistic person may gain the world but he will lose his soul while God has everything we want and yet, we wouldn’t lose our souls. When dealing with the devil, he is always contending for our souls
Mark 8:26
“36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?” KJV
Then, God shows us His pattern in this scripture 3 John 2
“2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” KJV
You prosper while your soul also prospers.
3. Struggle – trying to create things by oneself when we are supposed to receive things.
4. Eternal damnation especially when the person denies God.
5. Loss of spiritual direction
6. Living a life of no spiritual reference
7. Lack of contentment …
8. A faithless life
HOW TO QUIT MATERIALISM
- UNDERSTANDING: An understanding of who you are and understanding the realities of creation from God’s point of view helps us have a holistic picture of what life should be.
When you understand that the real you is a Spirit having a physical experience, it will help you quit materialism.
Many people focus on their bodies at the expense of their spirit. It is like a car owner taking the car to a mechanic to be fixed when he has a few dollars in his pocket at the expense of his health.
He eventually dies leaving the car behind.
This is what happens when we take care of our bodies – feed them, clothe them, shelter them, work to make money to take care of our physical needs neglecting our spirits.
This doesn’t in any way suggest we do not take care of our bodies, we need our bodies to be on this side of eternity.
But the priority is the watchword here.
The spirit comes first before the body.
Both need attention just like the car owner and the car need a doctor and a mechanic, none should suffer but the car owner should go to the hospital first before taking the car to the mechanic.
- REPENTANCE – Coming to Christ is the genesis of our spiritual work and an exit from the materialistic world.
- STUDYING THE WORD – Studying the word helps us understand what spiritual blessings we have.
Then we can reach out to them via faith.
- PRACTICE: Practicing what we have learned is showing that we have exited the materialistic world. It is us manifesting who we are in our truest form. Practice is calling forth those things that are not in the physical world as though they are. It is assuming our divinity and engaging our creative power.
- RESISTING THE ENEMY: We have an adversary whose sole purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. He first steals what belongs to us, if we keep quiet, he goes ahead to kill and destroy it but when we speak up, he returns it.
Thieves do not steal and destroy immediately nor do they return only what they have stolen.
Rather they return 7x what they have stolen hence they are caught.
Whatever the devil has stolen from you, in the name of Jesus he returns x7 of it even if it means giving his entire household according to Proverbs 6;30-31
“30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31 But if he is found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. KJV
But you cannot access this immaterial reality in Christ if you are not born again. Therefore, I invite you to make Jesus Christ your Lord and personal savior by saying this prayer out loud.
Lord Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and personal savior, I believe you died on the cross for my sins and you resurrected on the third day. Write my name in the Book of Life in Jesus’ name, amen.
Congratulations and welcome to the family.
Finally, if you have backslidden and you want to recommit your life to Christ, kindly recite this prayer loudly wherever you are and Jesus will hear you.
Dear Lord, as the prodigal son, I return to you and I ask for mercy and I pray the blood of Jesus Christ to atone for my sins. Help me lead a good life and give me an encounter so I will know you personally, amen.
Congratulations! You have renewed your commitment.
Thank you.
Find our article on how to forgive easily using this link. This will help you understand what forgiveness is and how to forgive easily.
I love you.
Nneka
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