Needs vs. Wants

Needs vs. Wants - this lesson was hard for me to learn. I guess it starts as a little kid and you see a colorful toy in the store and you say, “Mommy, I want that!” And what did your mother say? “You don’t need that.”

Stores know all about our impulses. That’s why they put the most delectable, irresistible products at the cash register - candy. That’s why they put the staple items like milk and eggs all the way in the back of the store so we have to walk past everything else we don’t need to get what we do need.

How many times have you gone in to the store for one item and end up spending 10 times as much? And your thought as you stare at the receipt, “I only came in for one thing!”

Plaza Las Americas, San Juan, Puerto Rico

In my recent visit to Puerto Rico, I ended up going to the largest shopping mall in the whole Caribbean to find free wifi almost every day. Commercialism is alive and well in Puerto Rico. Even during the week, there was not a time when there wasn’t a lot of people in the mall. Stores I never even heard of - some with more than one location within the mall - all showing the latest fashions or the latest gadgets that we must have and can’t live without.

I was surprised by the size of the cosmetic section in a Walgreens. At least 3x the size of the ones stateside.

Now, more than ever we all must think about making a purchase long and hard before we buy it. Do you really need this? Can you live without it? Can it wait till you have the money?

Wants are what got us in trouble. You really didn’t need to get the top-of-the-line, gas guzzler SUV with all the bells and whistles when a simpler car, that just got you to work and around town, would have been enough.

You really didn’t need to get the big house. You really didn’t need to charge that fancy necklace or high-fashion shoes. (And those shoes look tremendously uncomfortable never mind the long-term damage to ladies’ feet!)

And soon, if not already, you’ll be wondering how you’re going to make the payments. (Apparently credit card debt is a big problem in PR also.)

It’s called greed. Greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Vanity is another, as is Pride and Gluttony.

But God forgives all our sins. Jesus died for that very reason.

God also provides for our needs - not our wants. (Matthew 5:25-34)

Turn to God and you’ll see that all your needs will be met. Needs not wants.

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Great Blessings!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Giselle Aguiar
Award Winning Christian Author
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