My children are a marketer’s dream.

They see a commercial for something that is “NEW” or “IMPROVED” or “BETTER THAN EVER” and they want it RIGHT. NOW. Obviously that pair of Stompeez would make their life SO much better, right?

I can’t say I’m much better. The newest thing has such appeal to me. I, too, am drawn to new and shiny and improved.

I am particularly partial to kitchen gadgets. I have thus far restrained myself from buying the cute little cake pop maker, but I have been tempted. I have a slight obsession with finding the best blender and/or food processor. I love reading kitchen equipment recommendations from America’s Test Kitchen.

As much as I might want to, I have not spent a fortune on this kitchen gadget fascination, but I know that desire is there. And the feelings of always wanting the next best thing in one area of life tend to bleed over into the other areas.

Discontent breeds more discontent. While I am quite happy with the beautiful life God has given me, when I focus on the “better” things I could have in my kitchen or garage or any other part of my home, the thoughts don’t usually stop there.

Sometimes we are forced to not have the “next best thing” because of financial constraints. Sometimes we are able to afford the latest and greatest, but we realize once we have it that it wasn’t so great after all or it didn’t fill the void we through it would.

Whether we have the money or not, part of living the self-controlled life laid out in Galatians 5:22-23 is about knowing we don’t HAVE to have that next best thing. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to reign in our misguided desires.

I’m praying and working on training myself to avoid the announcements of new technology and such. I try to look at the best options for a product ONLY when we actually need it and not just for fun. I’m an imperfect work in progress in this area, but my status quo is changing. I want that focus on “new” and “better” stuff to go away.

I don’t HAVE to have the next best thing.

Who is joining me in repeating that to themselves today?

This post is part of the series, 31 Days of NOT Having It All. You can find the rest of the posts in this series here!