The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Mark 4:19 (NKJV)
Happiness isn’t something that appears in our lives automatically when we begin a relationship with Jesus. There are several things we need to do to increase the level of joy and peace we experience in life, but many times we chase happiness the wrong way. One of these happiness traps involves the deceitfulness of riches.
Riches are deceiving because people are often falsely persuaded to believe that more money will result in more happiness. It’s misleading because riches don’t necessarily result in contentment.
I’m not saying that God wants us all to be poor. There’s nothing wrong with having money as long as you realize that money is a tool. It does not determine your happiness. You can enjoy a day-to-day kind of joy regardless of whether you have a lot of money, or a little.
Another problem with money is that people never seem to think they have enough. I once read about the results of a survey that polled some of the richest people in the US. This top 20 percent or so were questioned about how wealthy they felt they were. Only 0.5 of a percent actually thought they were wealthy! It didn’t seem to matter how much they made. For most, it was never enough.
You can have an ongoing joy that stays in your heart whether you are having the leanest year of your life or the most successful year. Joy is something you can build, and it all starts with going after it the right way. So you can go after success, but keep reading to find out how to develop true, lasting joy!