What Money Cannot Buy

While growing up in the Bronx, I always felt it was important to listen to the elders in the community. I listened to the elders because they were older and had more life experiences. Besides being on earth longer, they saw and witnessed some of the things that I had to learn about.

One thing that I remember learning from the elders in the neighborhood is that money cannot buy love, joy, peace, happiness, and health. In particular, they taught me that money is just green paper that we assign value to in order to purchase goods. They revealed that money is just an item that can never please our spirit. In other words, the more money you have, the more problems you will have in life. I guess that is why in Matthew 19:21, Jesus answers a man by tell him, “if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

Another profound message about money in the bible declares that, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Notably, history has also shown us that money often causes greed, which in turn causes tremendous pain. For example, rich and famous celebrities have killed themselves because their money did not make them happy. Businessmen and women have placed themselves in prison for cheating people in order to attain wealth. Moreover, families have fallen apart over money.

Ultimately, money cannot buy love, joy, peace, happiness, and health. With this in mind, think about all the successful people that thought they were loved by their family and friends until controversy emerged (i.e. OJ Simpson). Money cannot buy joy, or keep you at peace. This is a primary reason why an individual such as Michael Jackson could not sleep at night. Money could not buy individuals such as Anna Nicole Smith or Joan Rivers happiness, that’s why they had so many plastic surgeries and were never satisfied with their appearance. Money cannot buy you mental health to overcome addiction (i.e. Whitney Houston). Unfortunately, these individuals not only prove that money does not fulfill our emotional needs but their actions demonstrated in spite of attaining wealth they were still dissatisfied with life. In essence, money is something that we need in life however; it is not what uplifts our spirit. It cannot purchase, replace, or overpower love, joy, peace, happiness, and health, which are the essential currency that drives our success.