Even with the rising costs of goods, services, and experiences due to inflation, even with dwindling financial accounts, and even with uncertain forecasts, consumer spending hasn’t just remained steady, but it has significantly increased confusing economists since historically consumer spending decreases during economic downturns.
Throughout this year, TikTok Shop brokered $7 million a day in U.S. product sales.
On Black Friday, sales at brick-and-mortar stores were up 1.1% from last year and American shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion online alone.
On Cyber Monday, American consumers spent another $12.4 billion (a 9.6% increase from 2022).
According to an Adobe Analytics survey, $79 million of the sales on Black Friday came from consumers who opted for the “Buy Now, Pay Later” flexible payment method in an effort to stretch their “purchasing power” even further. While that has been a significant option chosen in previous years, that is up 47% from last year alone.
While a lot of older Americans who have experienced similar trends and circumstances over the course of their lifetime are seeing the necessity to be a little more conservative in their spending habits and choices, younger generations are bucking that mindset and the historical trend and they are spending more, much more, for goods, for services, and for experiences that they fear they might not have the opportunity or the ability to enjoy at a later time, if they don’t do so now. It’s a movement that has been termed “YOLO spending.” The acronym YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once.” So, today’s consumer is allowing FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out) to push them towards YOLO spending much of which is putting them in a financial bind today and locking them in to burdensome financial commitments for months or years to come.
WHAT IT TELLS US:
Bigger…Newer…Better. These are desires that while not inherently wrong they can quickly turn into insatiable desires that rob us of our peace and happiness and that result in pursuits that produce present and ongoing problems. In other words, they tend to take over our heart and mind, turning us into someone that we don’t want to become and that causes us to do things that we never would have seen ourselves doing.
They stir up wrong passions,
They shift our perspective about life and people, and
They shut us up in what can best be described as a prison cell that is run by a very hard taskmaster.
The desire for more has correctly been described as an internal illness that can affect anyone. Indeed, it has, and it does. It creates within us an intense dissatisfaction with where we’re at, with what we have, and with what we’re going through.
Now, while the desires to improve, to change, and for a shift in circumstances aren’t necessarily wrong, they does have the potential of BLINDING us to that which is important and BURDENING us with that which is unnecessary:
It blinds us to the present goodness of God.
It blinds us to the lessons that we can and that we need to learn currently.
It blinds us to the opportunity that our present reality provides others with to serve and to grow.
It blinds us to the example that we can set for others who find themselves in or entering something similar.
It burdens us with things that we don’t need and/or that we weren’t intended to have.
It burdens us with things that we can’t get out from under thus making our load much heavier to carry and even unbearable.
It burdens us with things that either don’t last or things that really do not matter when viewed from the perspective of eternity.
When we begin to be infected by or we begin to consider the impact of this “internal illness” (the desire for more), one of the many excuses that we cling to is that “you only live once.” We like this excuse because there’s just enough truth in it for us to convince ourselves that it’s okay for us to OVER-COMMIT, for us to OVER-SPEND, and for us to OVER-LOAD (the credit card that is). The result – pressures amplify, pockets dwindle, and problems are not only expanded but they are extended.
What we really need is less YOLO SPENDING and more YOLO LIVING. The difference is the understanding that I am not living for the ABUNDANCE that I want in this life; I’m living for the ACCOUNT that I will give for the life that I choose to live.
Romans 14:12 says, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
When I begin to view this life from an eternal perspective, it produces a three-fold response:
1) CONTENTMENT
1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
The word contentment is defined as “a satisfaction of mind or gratification.” It carries with it the idea of being at peace. It’s something that our world knows very little about. A casual glance around will simply confirm that we live in a world that is discontent. The cure, we’re told, is bigger, newer, better. And yet, it seems that regardless of what one gets, people are still left in a state of discontent. We have more than most who lived before us, and yet, all they want is more. Sometimes what we want (more) isn’t what we need (less).
Proverbs 15:16: “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.”
Contentment is a word that we don’t like because we don’t understand it. We assume that contentment eliminates progress, change, and improvement, but that isn’t the case at all. I can still be content and chase dreams, I can still be content and consider possibilities, I can still be content and contribute to things that are bigger and better.
Being content does not mean that I am not concerned about the day-to-day things that God has promised. It means that I learn to trust Him with and for the day-to-day things.
Matthew 6:31-33 says, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Being content does not mean that I can’t consider things that I don’t have, things that I can’t afford, or things that others have. It means that I don’t allow those things to cause me to complain about what I don’t have, to cause me to covet what I can’t afford, or cause me to become critical about what others have or contentious with those who have what I don’t.
1 Corinthians 10:10 says, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”
Hebrews 13:5 says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
James 3:16 says, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
Being content is the realization that God has me right now where I am for a reason and until He determines for that to change, then I will honor Him and live appropriately for Him right where I’m at and with what I have.
Philippians 4:11-13 says, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
2) CONTROL
Proverbs 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”
One of our greatest responsibilities in this world is to learn how and to develop the discipline to control ourselves. The reality is that a lack of self-control equals a person that is out of control. When it comes to our spending, an individual that fails to demonstrate self-control will demonstrate the behaviors of impulsivity, inconsiderateness, and independence.
Being impulsive has caused a lot of people to step into situations that they weren’t prepared to handle or that they never were intended to carry. Our lack of patience often causes us to miss out on the blessings that God desired to and intended to pour into our life.
Being inconsiderate makes our life entirely about ourselves. The only person that we can see is me and the only need or want that we notice is mine. The problem with that selfish mentality is that God works in people lives through people. That means that there are individuals that you will come in contact with as you journey through this life that God intends to meet a need in their life through your kindness and through your generosity. However, we often miss those opportunities because we were blinded by our own personal blinder.
Being independent isn’t necessarily a bad thing until we start to live our life without the Lord’s wisdom or the Lord’s help. We were designed to live life with God and for God’s glory, but so often we develop a mindset that I can get through and I can handle my life on my own. More often than not that is a dark and dangerous path that ultimately robs God of the degree of glory that He would receive had we just chosen to do life with Him.
Hebrews 13:5 says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
3) CONTRIBUTION
Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
It is so easy for us to get pulled into the mindset that simply wants to acquire an abundance as we journey through this life. Sadly, our culture tends to associate abundance with position and status, but what we need to understand is that the pursuit of abundance often robs us of the ability, the energy, or the opportunity to serve God with our life and make investments that aren’t just beneficial in here and now but last for eternity.
Someone has correctly stated that “It requires but little of this world’s goods to satisfy a man who feels himself to be a citizen of another country and knows that this is not his rest.” And how true! Question – in all of your spending how much is done with Heaven in mind?
