"God expects me to sacrifice my needs and wants to prove I'm serious about following Him."
How it sounds in your head: Maybe I'm too focused on comfort—wanting financial margin, enjoying hobbies, caring about my career. Real disciples deny themselves completely. If I was truly surrendered, I wouldn't care about these things. Wanting more feels selfish.
"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy."
-- 1 Timothy 6:17Source: Religious asceticism teaching that God is pleased by self-deprivation rather than receiving His abundance.
You've heard sermons on 'taking up your cross' and 'denying yourself' weaponized to mean God wants you miserable. Enjoying life feels indulgent, so you suppress legitimate desires to appear spiritual.
After Job's suffering, God didn't leave him barely surviving as a badge of spirituality. God DOUBLED everything Job lost—more wealth, more children, 140 more years of blessed life—instant and abundant restoration.
I REFUSE the lie that God is pleased by my deprivation. IT IS WRITTEN that He gives me richly all things to ENJOY. Jesus came to give abundant life, not poverty as a test of devotion. IT IS WRITTEN in Psalm 37:4 to delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart—He PUT those desires there. I am Abraham's seed, heir to the BARAK blessing, which includes being blessed in the city and field, coming in and going out, blessed in my storehouses. God takes pleasure in my prosperity because I'm His son. Wanting good things isn't carnal—it's how He designed me. I receive His abundance with gratitude and joy.
The Father doesn't want you living on scraps to prove you're holy—He prepared a feast, and He's inviting you to the table with joy. He delights in lavishing good gifts on His children, not watching them suffer unnecessarily.