If we’re not careful, we can start to live with a never-enough attitude.
Our income isn’t enough. Our relationships aren’t enough. Our placement in life isn’t good enough. And for some of us, people can’t be sorry enough. We’re surrounded by “not enough’s.”
The whole basis of this message is found in Paul’s words in Philippians. He’s sitting in prison. He sees the end coming. And he says something that sounds almost impossible in a world like ours:
Philippians 4:11-12
“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.”
How is this kind of deep, earnest contentment possible?
The Monster of More is incredibly sneaky. It can get into the front seat of your life and ride shotgun, and you don’t even realize it’s a problem until somebody starts talking about it.
Why are we in this constant battle? Because we live in a culture built on one message: more.
More money, more square footage, more followers, more upgrades, more security.
The monster of more convinces us that we need more, that we are entitled to more, that we are owed more. It tells us we’re owed that vacation. It tells us that when we get more, we’ll be more happy, more content, more fulfilled.
And that’s the twisted nature of it. Every time you get more, you still want more.
It just feeds the monster of discontentment inside of you.
Here’s the simple truth: we as a generation have more than any generation before us, and we still battle anxiety, comparison, loneliness, jealousy, and discontentment in deeper ways than ever.
Jesus saw this long before there was Instagram, social media, or the modern world we live in. He saw it 2,000 years ago, and He addressed it directly.
Luke 12:15:
“Then he said, ‘Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.’”
In this passage, Jesus says, “Beware.” Other translations say, “Watch out.”
That’s some strong language. When somebody tells you to watch out, it changes how you move. You get more careful. You get more aware. You stop walking casually.
That’s what Jesus is getting at here. He’s saying, don’t just keep going through life assuming this won’t happen to you. Don’t keep moving like you’ve always moved. Watch out. Beware. Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.
That warning matters because greed is subtle.
It doesn’t usually show up looking ugly or obvious. It disguises itself. It creeps into your life ever so subtly.
And the most simple definition of greed is this: the desire for what we don’t have.
A lot of people hear the word greed and think, “that’s not me” or “I don’t struggle with that!” But if you find yourself always wanting more, looking at what everyone else has, or wishing for the next thing, you may not want to call it greed, but that’s exactly what it is.
That’s why it’s such a monster.
The first thing we need to understand is this: more is never enough and is always a trap.
1 Timothy 6:6–10 says,
“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
That passage lays it out clearly. True godliness with contentment is great wealth. But the love of money—the craving, the wanting, the needing more—leads people into temptation and traps them in foolish and harmful desires.
We tend to think contentment is a place we arrive at one day. We think, “When I make this amount of money, when I have this size of house, when I drive this kind of car, when I can afford those clothes, when I have this many followers, then I’ll be content.”
But contentment isn’t a place and it isn’t a destination. It is a choice.
Benjamin Franklin said this, “Contentment makes a poor man rich, and discontentment makes a rich person poor.”
For some of us, we have everything in the world, but we’re still discontent. We fool ourselves into thinking more will fix what’s wrong in us. But more will not fix your soul. More will not heal your marriage. More will not help your kids. More will not get rid of your anxiety. More won’t bring you more joy and peace.
More always wants more.
I think of getting “more” like eating sushi. The best sushi may hit the craving, but an hour later you’re hungry again. Every time, without fail. That’s how this works. “More” may satisfy the craving, but it never satisfies the hunger. And that’s why so many people can have everything they thought they wanted and still feel like something is missing.
The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough. The problem is that we don’t know what to do with what we have.
The Bible makes it clear, more money doesn’t give me more privilege. It gives me more responsibility.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 says this,
“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”
Paul says to command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant and not to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God.
That’s important, because most of us don’t think of ourselves as rich.
We think, “I’m not rich. I’m a college student. I’m a teenager. I’m a young professional. I’m still trying to make it.”
But the problem is that we define rich by who we compare ourselves to.
If you compare yourself to Elon Musk, you’re not rich. If you compare yourself to Bill Gates, you’re not rich. But when you compare yourself to the rest of the world, a whole lot of us qualify a lot faster than we think.
I’ve got news for everyone reading this message: You’re rich by the world’s standards.
According to the United Nations,
If you have a roof over your head, clean water, regular food, clothes to choose from, transportation, or a smartphone in your pocket, you are living with resources that much of the world does not have.
So hear this clearly: the Bible isn’t saying it’s bad to be rich. It says God richly provides for our enjoyment. But that enjoyment does not erase responsibility.
If God has entrusted us with much, then much is required.
Take a look at Luke 12:48:
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”
In other words, you who are rich, don’t use your riches to live it up or put false hope in your wealth. This richness is for our enjoyment, but it’s also our responsibility to not waste it or put all our trust in it.
Hear my heart on this: My hope for you is that you allow God to control your money, so your money doesn’t take control of you.
I get it, this is where it gets personal.
Jesus understood that the #1 competitor for your heart would be money. Not just money itself, but the security and the stuff money brings.
Some of us struggle because we spend too much. Others struggle because we trust too much in what we’ve saved. Either way, the deeper question is the same: where does your joy, your peace, your security, and your identity come from?
If your peace comes from your bank balance instead of the Savior you serve, that is an idol.
That doesn’t mean saving, planning, or being financially wise is wrong. Those can all be really good things. But they become dangerous when they stop being tools and start becoming sources of identity and security.
For some of us, we’ve allowed money to become an idol in our lives, instead of the way we help build God’s kingdom. We take more mall trips than missions trips, or scroll online more than we seek the Lord. We pursue the ‘good life’ instead of looking to God’s purpose for our lives.
So, how do we keep money in a healthy place in our lives?
The best way to kill greed and the monster of more isn’t poverty. It’s generosity.
That’s what Paul is instructing rich people to do. Not feel guilty. Not pretend money is evil. Not to act like wealth itself is wrong. But to use what they have correctly.
Money isn’t bad. Wealth isn’t wrong. But we have a responsibility to use it correctly.
Generosity breaks the grip of greed. Generosity keeps money from owning you. Generosity reminds you that what you have is not just for your privilege, but for God’s purposes.
If we’re going to live this out, we have to stay consistently focused on living for and investing in what really matters.
That word consistently matters, because some of us do this really well for a stage. We do it really well for a season. But then we drift.
Paul’s prayer says it so well:
Philippians 1:9-10
“I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”
That is the issue. Do we understand what really matters?
Because there are a lot of things that don’t.
A new golf club doesn’t really matter. Building your platform and counting followers doesn’t really matter. Getting that designer purse or bag doesn’t really matter. Getting the dream car, the warming seats, the warming steering wheel—that doesn’t really matter if your soul is cold.
You got the house you wanted with the extra square footage, you’re in the neighborhood everyone wants to be in. But you know it doesn’t really matter.
The promotion, the raise, they’re good things. But they’re not going to make you more content or kill the Monster of More in your life.
Hitting that savings threshold, again a great goal, but that’s not where your identity is meant to be.
All these things fade away.
I love what D.L. Moody says, “Our greatest fear shouldn’t be of failing, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.”
Some people are wildly successful at things God never called them to build their lives around in the first place.
So how do we stay focused on what really matters? How do we live the way Paul is calling us to live?
Here are four places to start:
It's not mine. It's not yours. It is His. And I have a lot more appreciation, gratitude, and contentment when I realize all that I have isn't mine in the first place.
Where does your hope really come from?
Does it come from the outfit, the car, the house, the platform, the savings account? Is that what makes you successful? Or does it come from the Savior you are following and serving?
When God becomes your security, generosity becomes your strategy.
Let your life be full of doing good for others who are in need.
Be rich in good deeds. Let people see the fruit of your life—not so that you look impressive, but so that God is glorified through the way you live.
Jesus taught us not to spend our lives storing up what moth and rust destroy, but to instead, invest in what never rusts, never wears out, and never fades: the kingdom of God.
When you do that, you are taking hold of the life that is truly life. You are focusing on what really matters.
How we spend our money isn’t always a bad thing. But there’s a big gap between what’s not bad and what’s God’s best for our lives.
My hope for you isn’t that you just get by doing what isn’t bad, but that you live your life in line with God’s best for you.
It’s easy to drift into spending without thinking. It’s easy to let buying become your default. It’s easy to start chasing little things that feel fun in the moment, only to realize later they never really brought more joy, more peace, or more fulfillment.
That’s the danger of living on default. Not because every purchase is wrong, but because your focus can slowly move off of what really matters.
If it’s all His, then we should want to spend His money in a way that makes Him proud.
At the end of the day, this is really what it comes down to: God has a better way to live.
He is not trying to strip joy from your life. He is trying to lead you into what is actually life.
2 Samuel 22:37 says this:
“You give me a better way to live, so I live as you want me to.”
That is the prayer: that we would live the way He wants us to live, because His way is always better.
If we’re not careful, the Monster of More will quietly run our lives. It will keep whispering that what we have isn’t enough and that what we need is just a little bit more.
But contentment is learned and generosity can be chosen. And when we live as stewards, shift our hope, become rich in good deeds, and invest in eternity, we begin to take hold of the life that is truly life.
That is how you fight the Monster of More.