Anorexia nervosa was first diagnosed in the late 1800s as a new type of disease, one which did not lodge itself in the blood or bones but in the hidden recesses of the mind. Anorexia an eating disorder characterized by low weight, fear of gaining weight, and a strong desire to be thin, resulting in food restriction. The myth is that anorexics look in the mirror and see someone fat or overweight. Typically that’s not the case. Anorexics look in the mirror and see someone who could be just a little bit thinner. The irony is that anorexics have already attained what they’re working so hard to achieve. They’re great at losing weight, they’re just horrible about knowing when to stop.

I would make the argument today that the majority of Americans (including Christians) suffer from financial anorexia. We spend our lives trying to get rich when in reality we’re already rich. We don’t think we’re rich because we’re not a millionaire or billionaire. Our uncle is rich, our grandfather is rich, but we’re not rich (at least that’s what we think). But if you make $37,000 a year or more (which is not an eye-popping amount), you’re in the top 4% of wage earners in the entire world. That means out of the 7.6 billion people currently walking this planet, if you make more than $37,000 a year, you’re richer than 7.3 billion of them. If you’re richer than 7.3 billion other people, that makes you rich.

But we don’t see it. Other people are rich, but we don’t see ourselves as rich. Instead, like an anorexic, we look in the mirror and think “If I could just have a little more money.” We look at our perfectly good home and say, “If I could just have a little bigger home.” We look at our perfectly functional car and say, “If I could just have a little newer car.” We look at our brand new iPhone 7 and say, “If I could just have an iPhone 8.”

We suffer from financial anorexia. We’re constantly surrounded by the trappings of wealth, and yet we don’t feel wealthy. We crossed over into wealth tens of thousands of dollars ago yet we don’t feel rich. We stare at all we have and instead of being content, we say, “If I could just have a little bit more.” We suffer from financial anorexia.