Need versus want, is there a difference?

I'd say there is a VERY BIG difference...We in the "First World," as some would call it are very blessed by the standards of worldly need. The vast majority of us have a safe home in which to live for we and our families, plenty of food to eat, and the warmth of a stove, fireplace or central heat to keep us from freezing. So our needs, for the largest part, the foundation of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs have been met. But wait, we might say, I don't have everything I need...I lack a lot of things...I might say I need a new pickup, but God has provided me a perfectly serviceable car which not only get's me from point A to point B, it even has heat and air so I can do so comfortably. I simply WANT a new pickup. I might say...I need new tools, when the tools I have can be used for a very long time...I WANT new tools.

Blessings abound, we have what we need. God might even give you some of the things you want if you ask nicely...He wants us to enjoy life in abundance, but He does not like excessiveness. That's where so many prosperity preachers have it wrong, they are really teaching excess, not biblical abundance.

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

God gives us plenty of abundance, if we trust in Him and appreciate His blessings. Most of us have ALL of our basic needs met, and still have many blessings left over. The Bible does mention monetary wealth directly, but usually in not so glowing terms. So, abundance is far more important than physical wealth, it is a spiritual wealth that money can not buy. You find abundance in the people in your life who are a blessing. God has blessed me abundantly by giving me my wonderful and devoted wife, Beth. Beth turned from a want to a need. At first I wanted her, but through the years of our marriage, I realize that God gave her to me in marriage because He knew I needed her.

I want to have loving friends and relatives; Maslow said that was a need, so God has blessed me abundantly with all of you, fulfilling my need abundantly.

So, you might say, how about the poor who don't even have they're basic needs met? Well, my friends, that is where we come in. God blesses us, then through our caring and generosity, God blesses them, completing a circle of Christian love that started with Christ and has been a long standing tradition.

There are the poor and needy, Christ told us there always would be...this is a major symptom of a sinful, broken world. But until Christ returns to fix it all, we are to be His hands and feet in fulfilling others' needs, lending His abundance to the whole world.

God's Grace be with You,
Fr. Charles Butler