Jonathan Fakhry | 26 November 2019
Jonathan Fakhry is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Florida. He is studying Microbiology and will be attending medical school next year.
It seems we are living in a society that is more concerned about how others perceive us rather than how we view ourselves. In this pursuit, many of us are consumed by pursuing careers that we despise, taking out loans that we can’t repay, or even purchasing expensive clothes that seek to attain an illusionary purpose than the insulation it is meant to provide for us. Yet, many of us are left unsatisfied, as if there is a gaping void inside of us that has yet to be filled. In response to this emptiness, we seek wealth, prestige, social connections, and attempt to fill this void by the same objects that initially created them. The simple articles of clothing our ancestors used for preserving warmth has evolved to become three layers of designer brand shirts and denim jackets that provide heat which instead consumes us. The horse-drawn carriage that many families dreamt of one day purchasing is now the multimillion-dollar supercar pinned on the wall of every child’s room. Even the water which God has provided for us, which is often devoid for many people, has transitioned into a product for major corporations who seek to use this necessity of life, to dilute their own.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). You see, this emptiness is not caused by the absence of earthly treasures, but by the absence of God. Pursuing wealth is a contradictory phrase that is rooted within the world. Wealth is not attained by the value of what is in your pockets, but the value of your heart. Prestige is also illusionary; in that it is only defined by the subjectivity of others. Happiness is not defined by others on social media, but by yourself. It is no coincidence that in the same generation we are living our healthiest and most bountiful lives, we are also experiencing the largest rates of anxiety and depression. This is not due to the quality of life we are living, but by the pressures of fame, wealth and prestige others expect us to attain.
I beg of you not to be consumed by anyone’s opinion. To pray diligently that the only opinion you wish to please is that of God’s.
“Do not love the world nor the things which are in the world, the world shall pass away and all its desires, but he who does the will of God shall abide forever.”