7 Lies The World Tells Us, 7 Biblical Truths That God Tells UsНамуна

Day Five: You Are What You Own

We’re on Day Five of a seven-day devotional about the seven lies we believe because of the gig economy. 

These seven lies are so dangerous because they are subtle, and they promise ultimate freedom and flexibility. 

Instead, they trap us in lives of greater isolation and dissatisfaction. 

We’ve looked at the destruction of these lies: you are what you do, you are what you experience, you are who you know, and you are what you know. 

Today, we look at Lie #5: You are what you own, and the truth that refutes it. 

Lie #5 - You are what you own.

It’s shocking, but the way we spend our money surprisingly reflects what we value, who we think we are and how we want to appear to others—more than we might be aware of or even be willing to admit. 

We believe that we are what we own because our culture has infused status and value into material objects. However, there’s a slight nuance that we need to pay attention to: what’s important for me may not be important for you. 

In other words, while some of you might scoff at hoarders who see quantity as the chief end of man, chasing quality or the “right” things isn’t necessarily any better. And by “right,” I’m referring to things that you believe will elevate your social status and class, rather than things that might be more functional.

No wonder compulsive hoarders look like they’re having a mental breakdown when family and friends arrive with a trash bag. The objects that they’ve hoarded are not just static material things without any meaning—they are extensions of themselves. 

So when their stuff gets thrown away, it’s like they’re being thrown away. This is why hoarders react so emotionally during a cleanup—it’s like they are being rejected and disposed by the very people who are supposed to love them the most.

This is also why—if you chase after quality or the “right” things—you might flip out if someone scratches your car, if you crack the screen on your phone, or if a sentimental necklace goes missing. Your emotional reaction is a compass that points to what you value and just how much you value it.

As a result, even if you’re not a compulsive hoarder, I hope you’re beginning to see how the things you own are reflections and extensions of yourself—your beliefs, your values, and how you want to appear to others.

And when our focus is on the things we own, contentment is as far away as the next undiscovered galaxy in space. 

Truth #5 - The only path to contentment is through Jesus.

Paul wrote about contentment in his letter to the Philippian church. Let’s see what he has to say about the lie that you are what you own.

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13)

If anyone had the street cred to say he had learned the secret to contentment, it was Paul. He had the pedigree and all the right credentials. He was a religious leader in the day, educated by the best of the best, with a bright career ahead of him—but he decided to give it all up when he met Jesus.

And after meeting Jesus, he didn’t walk the path of apathy. He went all in—so much so that he went from being the persecutor to the persecuted.

So when Paul said that he had learned the secret of being content in any and all circumstances, this is what he meant. Here’s a brief list of the circumstances that he was referring to:

Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)

If this list wasn’t bad enough, when Paul told the Philippians he knew the secret to contentment, he was in prison! And it wasn’t because he committed some injustice to humanity; he was in prison because he was telling others about the path to contentment. He was jailed for trying to help, not hurt.

When you refuse to divorce context from content, you realize that there’s an extra layer of depth and credibility behind Paul’s words. His words are not flat, one-dimensional platitudes that you might find on a greeting card. He has experienced the highs and lows of life, and everything in between. So when someone like this says that he’s learned to be content in whatever circumstances he finds himself, it’d be foolish to look the other way, wouldn’t it?

That’s what contentment is like. It’s something you stumble into, and grow in over time, when your focus shifts to Jesus. This is because contentment is a direction, not a destination. It’s an outcome, not an action. It’s something that comes out of a slow cooker, not from a microwave. You can’t click to download it—there’s no button. You can’t choose it, as if it were some sort of one-off decision that you could make in isolation. You can’t positively think your way to contentment either, no matter how many times you chant it. It’s simply not something you can just “add to your cart,” or pull out of a vending machine.

So stop believing the lies. Self-help is not the answer to contentment. More or less stuff isn’t the path to contentment either. If it were, then both the wealthy and the minimalists would’ve claimed success by now, but they haven’t because contentment doesn’t work that way.

The only path to contentment is through Jesus, since Jesus has already given and promised us everything we need—even though there’s nothing we’ve done or can ever do to deserve it.

Prayer: Dear God, shift my focus from my material possessions to you. Forgive me for believing the lie that I am what I own. Jesus, lead me on the path to contentment. Amen.