a wasted life.

Lately, I have been feeling convicted.

Convicted about this luxurious life that I am living. Not that being blessed is bad, by any means; I think you should fully embrace what God has given you. But what I am talking about, is being wasteful.
I don't want to waste anything, but my innate, selfish mindset causes me to take way more than I need so that I will always have enough later. But in reality, most of what I save becomes wasted and this act is a complete lack of faith that God will provide for me all the things He has promised.  But that is a whole different blog.Anyways, as of lately, I have been extremely convicted by my wastefulness.  God has given me all dominion and authority on earth and he calls me to steward it well.  He asks me to be wise with what he has given me.  He says that if I can handle what he has given me wisely, he will bless me with more.  And even along with that; he has also been showing me that it is not all about money.  I am wasteful in so many other areas of my life!  And I think much of it comes from the Western culture and how I was raised in and how so many people in America have no perception or even worry about how much they waste.  I know that I didn't.  But what I realized is that we should be aware of our wastefulness not only because children die every day of starvation, or because most of the world lives in poverty;  but because God hates waste and in his kingdom, there is no waste.  Living a wasteful life is straight up disobedience to the Lord. And so now, I feel as though I am noticing every wasteful act that I do and I am convicted.   

"Why do I live the exact same way as the world?"  
"What is the point of seeing poverty if my heart is left unchanged?"
 

It is sad, because I have fallen back into into being used to living a wasteful life, and I think that it has affected  my desire to change my lifestyle. But now I just keep thinking how ashamed I would be if I acted this way in another country.

Even if I have all the money, materials, or experiences in the world to show for myself, what will I have to show to God?  What will I have to offer him who has given me everything, even my very breath? I have been so wasteful with both money and time and the truth is, there is no time to waste.  I am not promised tomorrow and today is already almost gone. 

Embrace the thought that we could do more to honor God with what we have.  He is so worth it.