"Gotta have" may not appear to be good English, but it jumps right to the point of what we would like to address. "Gotta have" has become the mentality of many, who though realizing that they have already reached their maximum buying level on their plastic, are convinced that they just "gotta have" that one more thing. It describes an insatiable desire on the part of many people in our current day to be buying something else. They have trashed the idea of contentment, and dashed out in the quest for bigger, better, and more luxurious things.
Jesus made this statement about our Heavenly Father, "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8). This was not intended to discourage prayer or requests in prayer, but rather appears to be stated to allow us to understand that our Father in heaven knows what we truly "need". He is fully able to discern between what we "need", and what we "want".
As a youngster, being raised in a family of eight children, I often prayed that God might give me a million dollars. I wasn't certain just how He might do it, but it seemed like that might hold the answer to all of my wants. Fortunately, God did not give me that million dollars, but He did bless me with what I needed. I have learned through life's experience that there is a vast difference between what I "want" and what I "need".
Many today don't sit down and count the cost when they consider purchasing something. If they have even the slightest inkling that they might want something, they go out and get it. Those familiar sales slogans of "Buy now, pay later"; or "No money down, no payments until next year" that have been commonplace to most folks, have become the incentive for the "gotta have" individual to extend a little more credit and temporarily satisfy that "gotta have" mentality. Those slogans work well for the credit lenders, but do little for the spenders. Long after our temporary interest in something is gone, the bills keep rolling in, and sooner or later our accounts must be settled.
Material goods, things, call them what you may, can not and do not satisfy. We always have to pursue the new, improved, greater, better, latest model. We are not the first generation to get caught on that treadmill.
In the second chapter of Ecclesiastes, we find the writer stating: "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11; NKJ). As you read on in Ecclesiastes, you are made aware that most material things are vanity or emptiness. Material things are also subject to fluctuating values (I Timothy 6:17); and have the potential to be stolen, or be diminished in value by rusting or by destructive creatures like moths (Matthew 6:19). Even possessing the whole world (or most of the things in it) cannot do a single thing to prepare your soul for eternity (Matthew 16:26).
"Now godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Timothy 6:6). Contentment involves being satisfied with what you have. The apostle states, "And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" (I Timothy 6:8). Regarding these things, it was the Lord Himself who revealed, "Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33, NKJ).
After speaking of contentment, the inspired apostle addresses those who lack contentment. He continues: "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition" (I Timothy 6:9; NKJ). The "gotta have" mind-set seems to be driven by the idea of wanting to impress others, or at least to have what they have. With that desire comes many dangers. He continues: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (I Timothy 6:10, NKJ). "Gotta have" is like the proverbial dog that when crossing a bridge over a stream saw his reflection in the water and thought it was another dog with what appeared to be a bigger bone. He released his bone to capture the other. As a result, he lost all that he had. Sometimes, those who have been caught up in this trend, end up losing all they have because they cannot pay for what they have. Their "greediness" has opened the door to many sorrows, sorrows which they have brought on themselves.