Faithfully yours -Two things money can’t buy

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Published on Sunday, August 20, 2017

In what could well be one of the most expensive celebrity divorces of all time, Petra Ecclestone and James Stunt are about to dissolve their marriage and divide their shared wealth. How long this will take and who gets how much has yet to be determined.
The couple married six years ago and have three children. Their total wealth is estimated at $9.3 billion (yes, you read that right). They can have anything they want. They can go anywhere they want to go. They can do whatever they choose to do.

So why is the marriage on the rocks? Any why, before everything is settled, could much of their wealth find its way into the pockets of the high profile lawyers who will use every trick in the book to get the best “deal” they can for their respective clients?
As one might expect, rumors abound—lots of them—especially rumors of Stunt’s erratic behavior, multiple overdoses and domestic violence. But I think there is a much simpler reason for this breakup; a reason with which we all can identify.
The only difference between celebrity relationships and those of people like you and me is the amount of public scrutiny with which celebrities must live. Take that away from people like Ecclestone and Stunt, and you are left with two people who are trying to live a normal life and create a healthy environment in which to raise their children. And, like you and me, they have discovered that there are two things that money can’t buy.
First; money can buy companionship, but money can’t buy love. Case in point—the prodigal son about whom Jesus spoke in the gospels. As long as he had money, he was surrounded by people who loved to help him spend it. But when his money ran out, they abandoned him. Money bought him companionship, but it couldn’t buy him love.
That’s because love isn’t something we sell. Love is something we give. And the amount of love we give is based on the amount of trust we have in the person to whom we give it. If that trust is violated once, our ability to love the one who violated it is significantly diminished. If that trust is violated repeatedly, it won’t be long before whatever love there was in the relationship vanishes; and the relationship itself will soon dissolve.
Second; money can buy stuff—lots of stuff—but money can’t buy happiness. That’s because happiness isn’t based on what we possess. True happiness is based on contentment. Contentment is being satisfied with who you are, where you are and what you have.
Contented people are, for the most part, happy people. They work hard. They use their money wisely. If they are offered a different job that has better hours, working conditions or a higher wage, they will consider it. But they are not driven by the obsession to change jobs just because they can make more money and buy more stuff.
True contentment is also rooted in the belief that God is in full control of everything that happens in life and that he will supply our needs—one day at a time. We, in turn, receive what God gives with gratitude and use what he gives to meet our needs, to support those who depend on us for their well-being (especially our immediate families), to share what we can with those in need and most of all, as a way to show our love for others as God has shown his love for us.