People should . . . enjoy the fruits of their labor,
for these are gifts from God.
—Ecclesiastes 3:13
When you were a kid, were you ever ordered to clean your plate because children were starving in some faraway place?
You probably wondered how your empty plate could fill an empty stomach on the other side of the world. But the thought of starving children bothered you. The taste of guilt was worse than the taste of squash, so you held your nose and swallowed without chewing.
I know a man who has worked hard, built a successful business, and has a comfortable life. He’s wealthy—also generous. But his abundance haunts him; he feels guilty.
I pointed him to Ecclesiastes 5:19: “If God gives a man wealth and property and lets him enjoy them, he should be grateful and enjoy what he has worked for. It is a gift from God.”
An unjustified feeling of
guilt is a spoiler of joy.