by Pastor David Oyadomari

Question

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Reflection

For me, it’s simple: Live below your means. Although living below your means can sound like it’s referencing something financial, more importantly, there is a deeply spiritual basis to that statement. Living below your means isn’t just about spending less; it’s about choosing to live with less striving.

When we constantly try to “squeeze more” out of life — more money, more experiences, more recognition — we end up chasing something that never lasts. Consumption always promises satisfaction, but the moment we fill one desire, another desire within our spirit opens up, waiting for the next thing to fill it and takes its place. This cycle of perpetually wanting and needing leaves us exhausted and empty, always reaching for the next person, thing, or experience to make us feel full. And yet, fullness is actually found in needing less, NOT so much in having more.

To live below your means is to let go of the striving and attaining. Rather than maintaining busy schedules without margin for rest, we should instead make space — space for gratitude, for peace, for rest. Making space takes the endless loop of consumption and redirects our desire to consume and produce to instead be something eternal, something that can actually satisfy the soul.

In the Christian faith, that fulfillment is found in carving out purposeful time to spend knowing, conversing, and being with Jesus. As we build this relationship and walk with Him daily, learning from His teachings and His way of being, we begin to experience a contentment that no purchase or possession can match.

Jesus never chased status or accumulation. His life was one of simplicity, generosity, and trust in the Father’s provision. To follow that pattern — to live below your means — is to live from abundance rather than lack, and fulfillment becomes more about who we are becoming and not just about what we own or achieve. The less we strive, the more we rest in what truly matters.

Takeaway

“Live below your means” is more than financial wisdom because when you stop chasing more, you begin to experience enough.
In a world always pushing for excess, simplicity becomes a quiet form of freedom.
The richest life is not the one filled with possessions, but the one filled with peace.