Shopping addiction is right up there with drug and alcohol addiction. In fact, addicts shop for the same reasons that other addicts do what they do –the “high” of escaping negative feelings, the inability to cope with problems emotionally or spiritually, the need to fill an inner void, or a way to deal with anxiety caused often by approval seeking. The more the inner need to feel good or salve depression or anxiety, the more extravagant and flagrant the spending.

The truth is, the lavish spender may be spiritually spent. The exorbitant buyer may not need a lecture on the moral use of money but instead may need some deep spiritual and emotional healing.

Jesus understood human nature in ways that go way beyond the norm. For every compulsive spender, Jesus becomes not a blamer but a compuls…