By Ann Mann
As I was going through boxes in my home, I stumbled upon an old file filled with newspaper clippings, yellowed with age and heavy with wisdom. Many of these articles were older than I am, so, clearly they were given to me by someone who knew I’d need them one day.
One article in particular caught my attention. It was a newspaper column by Billy Graham titled, “Compulsive Shoppers Should Realize the Heart’s Real Hunger is For God.” Graham was responding to a widow who confessed to a compulsive desire to buy things she didn’t need. “My closets are filled with unneeded apparel,” she wrote. “Why do I do this? I really can’t afford it.”
I expected a pastoral, perhaps even sympathetic, response. Instead, Graham opened with this insight: “Psychologists say that compulsive acquirement of things is the result of emotional insecurity.” He noted that buying necessities is normal, but buying things we don’t need is “abnormal and foolish.”
At first, I found his words a little jarring. But then I thought, sometimes the correction we need is hard to hear.
Like that widow, I’ve turned to what we jokingly call “retail therapy.” There’s something about the rush of a new purchase that lifts the spirit, briefly. It’s actually a rush of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that activates the brain’s reward system, giving us that fleeting sense of euphoria.
But the high never lasts. Soon enough, the bills roll in, and regret sets in.
Jesus said it plainly in Luke 12:15: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” That verse always stops me in my tracks.
We live in a world obsessed with “more”, more stuff, more success, more status. But Jesus reminds us that true life, true abundance, is not measured by the contents of our closets or bank accounts.
The real hunger we carry, the ache that drives us to fill carts and wardrobes and storage units, is spiritual. Psalm 42:1 paints the picture beautifully: “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” The psalmist, likely writing in a time of exile and spiritual drought, uses the metaphor of a desperate, thirsty animal to describe our longing for God.
Sometimes we look to people to fill the emptiness inside. Sometimes it’s work. Or achievement. Or even just the distraction of a new gadget.
But the truth is, nothing and no one can satisfy that deep soul-thirst. Only God can.
We live in a culture of quick fixes. We’re constantly sold the idea that the next “thing” will make us happy. Things do have their place. We need homes, transportation, clothing. But these things must be kept in perspective. They must never come before God.
The wisdom in that old article wasn’t just for a compulsive shopper from decades ago. It’s for all of us today, navigating a noisy world full of temptation and distraction.
True peace, true joy, true contentment, these aren’t found in store aisles or on credit card statements. They’re found in the quiet, sometimes uncomfortable work of turning our hearts back to the One who made us.
So the next time we find yourselves standing in front of the checkout line, let us ask: What am I really shopping for?
(Ann Mann is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, now serving as pastor to Barnesville First United Methodist Church. You can email her at annmann@comcast.net. Her book, “Finding Hope in the Storm,” is available on Amazon.)
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