A long time ago, I learned a valuable lesson. I pepper much of my teaching and preaching with the difference between “Need” and “Want.” We often struggle with the idea of knowing the meaning of the two.
- Need – That which sustains me, required for success, or necessary to move forward.
- Want – That pretty bauble hanging in the wings that does nothing necessary for me.
- Or, just do without…
It’s like knowing what you “need” or “want” when it comes to items like, say, a car. What I need is something simple, economical, and comfortable to get me from here to there. Often, however, what I want has all the pretty baubles and dangling prices for each. Worth it? If so, I sign up for it. If not? Then perhaps I settle.
Back in the day, I needed my first computer for the house. For what? I play games, develop Word documents for teaching, and have something for my kids to use technology. What I got was the “Best of the Best.” A Gateway 486/66 DX2, tallest tower, biggest hard drive, most Ram… For about 2 months, you couldn’t get anything better. Within a year, it was ranked way down the list from where it had dominated all comers!
I’ve lived with the best I can get to satisfy my need for processing power.
What do you Need vs. Want today?
Consider your needs and wants from a spiritual perspective. What you need may be the bare minimum to get by, or it may be the most powerful presence of God to challenge enemies. It may depend on the situation.
Do you know the difference? Paul says it like this:
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:11-13 KJV
Content with what I need and seeking for it is more significant than all the things I want, and I am never satisfied with what I obtain.
I used this recently, I think…but it’s very appropriate today. Not to take it out of context, but it explains my theory.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Revelation 12:11 KJV
Do we need cathedrals, stain-glassed windows, extensive facilities? Probably not. Nice, perhaps, but not needed. I suspect the best response is that I should know what I’m working through and know what I need to make it happen, or do I need it because it’s glitz and glamor while the struggle is just getting folks in the door.
The Revelator said,
“What we need is The Blood of the Lamb
and the words of Our Testimony.
And then love not our lives so much that death worries us.”
~Gurley Translation
Today. I want to be focused with a purpose to accomplish the necessary things God has put into my path to handle. It may not be what I want to achieve; instead, it’s what I need to do!