Needs and Wants

I volunteer in a first grade classroom for a few weeks each year. I love it. Except that time last week where I saw two kids, count 'em two, dig for gold then eat it. Bluchk!

Well lately we've been talking about the difference between needs and wants.
Not too difficult to define, right?
Need: Something you have to have.
Want: Something you don't have to have, but you would be happy if you did have it.

So we practice categorizing things.
Food- Need.
Home- Need.
School- Need/ Want/ Don't want

Wii- Want/ Need?
Clothes- Need (when you're in 1st grade it's a need... it becomes a want when you get to 7th)

Not too difficult to categorize those things, but in my world it gets trickier.
Oil change- Need
New sheets- Want? Ours are past their prime, but still functional.
Salmon instead of chicken- Want?
An app to blog from my iPad- Want
Date night with hubs- Need?

Truth or dare?
Truth?
Ok. Do you know the difference between need and want? Do you use need to often?

Dare?
Good choice. I dare you to catch yourself saying need and to correct yourself out-loud when appropriate.
For example:
I need coffee. No, I want coffee.
I need new, no, want new black dress pants.
I need a manicure. Correction. I want a manicure.

And can we be honest about something? I am not at risk of understating my needs. You are not either. We don't have many needs. People that don't have enough to eat and are being oppressed by others, they have needs. We have wants. When in doubt, use want instead.

When you start correcting yourself you'll notice how often you use these words. That's when it gets scary. Cause it sounds something like this...

I WANT, I WANT, I WANT, I WANT, I WANT


What do I sound like? A first grader throwing a tantrum in the aisle at Target. Lovely.

Heart check: Why do I want so much when I lack so little? According to Paul Tripp, we are "vats of desire and entitlement."
Vat. Nice word. Makes me think of lard. Vat of lard.
I want a vat of lard.
No I don't. Just practicing.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

PS- If you want to know more on what Paul Tripp has to say about our words and what they reveal about who we believe God is, listen to this. It's long though, like over an hour maybe. Don't say I didn't warn you.