Today I thought I would share something that I am working on with myself, in the hopes it may help someone else with a similar issue in their life.

My husband and I are on a debt free journey.  I have come to a point in my life where I realize that I have a shopping addiction.  I never thought it was a problem because the things I purchase are not real costly, but shopping has become an idol in my life that takes my focus off my relationship with my Lord.  When we take a good hard look at our selves, we can then see more clearly the areas we need to work on.  

Our society is set up in a way where shopping has become a hobby, a way to false happiness for many, not to mention wasting the money that God may intend us to use to help others.  It seems where ever we look someone is trying to get us to spend our money.  When we are always on the hunt for something new, (even if it is not costly and from a thrift store) we are letting this become an idol in our life.  

Shopping can truly become an addiction.  When we purchase something new our body releases dopamine and if we purchase something on line we also release dopamine when the item arrives.  This is a false sense of happiness.  God wants our contentment to come from a personal relationship with Jesus.  He wants us to seek first His kingdom, and when we do this we will have the contentment that is true and lasting that only comes from the Lord.  

I have started doing my chapel time before all else in the morning.  I read my Bible and devotionals, do my prayer journal and then do all my daily house work as to the Lord.  I find when I put God first in my life, I truly seek His kingdom above all else, and I am not longing to collect the next thing. 

None of us know what our future may hold, so it is only wise to save our dollars, because we may need them to live if times get really hard, or God may call on us to meet a need for someone else.  I try to remind myself that our money is truly given to us to be good stewards for the Lord, and all things in this life belong to Him.  In that sense we should be wise and use it as he wills for us to.  

So this is an area that I am giving myself a good hard look at how I am handling the resources that God has entrusted to me.  Like all things I will be gentle with myself as I strive to please the Lord and break my shopping addiction.  I know that I alone may not be able to break it, but we should remember that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

I hope that if someone reading this suffers from any sort of addiction that you can put it in God's hands and put Him first above all else.  I thank you for stopping by my space.  May God bless you and keep you in His loving care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli