Perspective and Contentment

People love to form opinions about others, especially when they can’t see the whole picture. I don’t want to judge anyone for that, or I’d be a hypocrite, but sometimes I think people need to slow down their assumptions a bit, me included. I’m writing this now to expose myself and to be completely honest, because I think we all need to work harder on contentment and avoiding the sin of coveting. It’s one sin that is little discussed, and even if it’s the last on the list, it was important enough to make it into the top ten laws.

I live a very simple life, but a lot of people might assume otherwise because they don’t know me very well, and I only occasionally post the highlights of my life on social media. They see me charging what some consider a lot for my art, they see I sell books, or they see posts about random other things in my life, and they build their own version of who I am. I’ve had people imply I don’t understand poverty, and yes, I know I might not in cases of extreme poverty, but let me tell you, I understand suffering more than you know. It has given me so much empathy to those who are struggling to make ends meet.

For some perspective, right now, almost everything I own has been given to me out of the kindness of other people’s hearts. I live in a house I do not own, and the things I do own, I feel like they aren’t mine because I didn’t work for them. It can make you feel owned. The minimum wage in Brazil is R$1550 which amounts to about $285 USD per month. If you aren’t part of the aristocrat society here, it’s very hard to land a good job that pays well, and so far, we have not been so fortunate. I honestly don’t understand how most people survive, but I guess Brazilians must be very resourceful. Thanks to Abba, we are surviving, but it hasn’t been easy. I cannot afford to buy a phone, so I happily make do without one. I can’t remember the last time I had butter. Cheese almost never. Oil I have learned to scavenge from chicken whenever we can afford meat, otherwise I cook with water to keep things from sticking. We eat very basic rice, noodles, veggies, and bread most days. You get used to the stomach not feeling satisfied. When I occasionally get to eat what some might consider an ordinary meal, I feel like I've died and gone to heaven lol.

I can’t even go into the other struggles. I don’t post about these things not because I’m ashamed of it, but because I don’t seek sympathy for it. ALL of us are suffering, and we can make our lives so much worse by comparing them to other’s lives. I don’t want people to do that with me, to look at me and be jealous if I post a highlight of my life on social media. Hopefully what I’ve shared here will stop anyone who has felt jealousy. I know my life still won’t sound bad to some people who are living worse. My point is, when we look at others and start imagining what they must have and letting it make us feel gloomy, that is coveting. I am guilty of it. I have seen others who have blessings that I wish I had in very specific areas of my life, and meanwhile I am clueless to the suffering those people are experiencing in other ways. All of us are poor in some area of our life. Wealth doesn’t come down to the money you have, the house you live in, the food you eat, or the clothes you wear. Your wealth is directly controlled by how content you are with what you do have. Contentment is the opposite of coveting. We need to do better, especially those of us who aren’t living with much. Please stop looking to others and thinking they owe you something because they seem happy or wealthier. Remember that if it were true that they owed you something, you’d be owing something to someone else as well. It’s true we owe each other kindness and care, but we don’t get to decide what people owe us or else we slip into coveting. I want to learn to be ever so grateful for what I have, and I wish others wouldn’t envy it because it still comes with a lot of struggles.

Hebrews 13:5 Set your way of life without covetousness, being satisfied with present things; for He has said, "Never will I leave you nor forsake you," never!

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