Is It Wrong to Want Good Things?

This is something I’ve wrestled with.

Is it wrong to ask God for financial provision? Is it wrong to desire a beautiful home? A reliable car? A vacation with your family? A life that feels peaceful and stable?

For years, I struggled with this tension because I’d always heard, “Money is the root of all evil.”

The issue has never been the thing.

What the Bible does say is “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils” (1 Timothy 6:10). 

It’s about the heart behind it. What are we pursuing? Why are we pursuing it? What are we hoping it will give us?

Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” When I’m truly walking with God, something shifts. My desires change. Not because I have to force them to—but because He changes me.

Psalm 37:4 says: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

For a long time, I thought that meant God would give me whatever I wanted. But now I understand something deeper.

When I delight in Him… He becomes my desire.

And somehow, mysteriously and beautifully, my heart begins to want what He wants.

Comparison is sneaky. It doesn’t announce itself. It whispers. It shows up while you’re scrolling Instagram. While you’re sitting in church. While you’re watching someone else live a life you think you want.

We see the car and assume they’re prideful. We see the bag and assume they’re materialistic. We see the vacation and assume they don’t struggle.

But we don’t see the prayers.

We don’t see the pain.

We don’t see the process.

And we certainly don’t see the grace that carried them there.

2 Corinthians 10:12 reminds us that “when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”

Here’s the humbling truth:

We are all broken.

We are all messy.

We are all desperately in need of Jesus.

Me most of all.

So if you’ve ever judged me for something I’ve posted, I forgive you. And if I’ve ever judged you in my heart—even silently—I’m asking for forgiveness too.

Because none of us are the finished product yet.

God is still working.

Still shaping.

Still restoring.

Still loving us right in the middle of our mess.

Yes, God blesses us with tangible things. But His greatest blessings will never be found in a bank account, a house, or a vacation. His greatest blessings are peace. Purpose. Restoration. Freedom. Grace.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’”

And the quiet confidence of knowing that you are loved—not because you earned it, but because He gave it freely.

Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, “for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

So today, if you find yourself comparing…

Stop.

Breathe.

Look around at your life. 

Not the filtered version. 

The real version. 

The imperfect, beautiful, grace-covered life God has given you.

You are not behind.

You are not forgotten.

You are not less blessed.

Zephaniah 3:17 says He rejoices over you with singing.

You are loved.

Deeply.

Fully.

Right now.

Mess and all.