Most of us have considered the question: “What would I do if I had more money?”

Chances are, just asking that question indicates an unhealthy attitude.

I don’t know if or why you may have considered that question, nor your life circumstances. So I can’t judge your motives or attitude.

Squatter village around Pasig area Manila Philippines. Photo by Benjamin Myers

But I have asked that question myself, and can share what I have learned from mistakes and hard experience.

I’ve also lived in some very contrasting economic situations: from subsistence villages in Africa to affluent Sydney.

Plus I’ve done a lot of reading on the topic to help gain freedom in the area of money.

Wealth is Relative

There’s always going to be someone wealthier than you. Unless you’re Bill Gates. And someone else more destitute than you. Unless you’re… I don’t know whether Nathan Tinkler or an orphan street kid in Calcutta is the better reference point here.

Even multi-millionaires wish they had more money.

When I lived in Africa and Asia, I would often have conversations with the locals about wealth and happiness. They wished that they had the wealth of Australians. I wished that Australians had the happiness, contentment and strong relationships that they had.

Act Your Wage

So many people wish they earned more yet already live as though they did earn more than they actually do.

A family on say $80k will live constantly in debt, yet have multiple cars including a loan or lease on a new car. Then their income increases to $100k. They upgrade their leased or financed vehicles and rent a nicer house. They buy slightly better gadgets, clothes, appliances and food (and an increasing proportion of take-out). They end up still being just as much in debt as they were before – and probably worse.

“People buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to impress people they don’t like.” Clive Hamilton, Growth Fetish

The cycle doesn’t end with increasing income. It ends with a change of attitude toward money.

Satisfaction Doesn’t Increase with Wealth

There are numerous studies showing that beyond a basic income, happiness does not correlate with increasing wealth or income.

“Happiness is not the result of being rich, but a temporary consequence of having recently become richer.” Ronald Inglehart, Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society

In Dollars we Trust

There is much secular evidence for why we should be content with what we have rather than wishing for more.

For the Christian, however, the call to stop wishing we had more money should be felt even more strongly.

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Jesus, Luke 12:15

Christians sometimes try to disguise or justify their desire for more wealth by imagining all the good things they could do for others if only they had a bit more money.

Do we trust more in dollars or God? Source: Huffingtonpost.com

But really this shows that we still put more trust in dollars than we do in God. Does God want us to live for and help others? Yes. Does He promise to give us everything we need to do so? Check.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19

(In fact, read the whole chapter of Philippians 4! Especially verses 6,7, 11-13.)

If the Christian thinks they would live their life differently if they had more money, it’s a clear indication that they are putting their trust in money more than in God. I know that from my own experience.

If it was God’s will for you to be doing something different than you are now, wouldn’t He also furnish the means to do it?

It’s a question of trust.