A need is essential or necessary for a certain task to be accomplished. A want, however, is something that is simply desired. We often conflate needs and wants. Sometimes we do it unintentionally, due to linguistic customs—and sometimes we do it intentionally, because if we say we need something, then we are more likely to get it. Children demonstrate this perfectly when they say, “I need that toy/candy”— after all, what kind of loving parent would jeopardize their child’s very existence by withholding that toy or candy.
It can be useful for us to really distinguish between our wants and our needs, both on a natural/emotional level and on a spiritual level.
The natural level includes various aspects of physical life that have been well-organized by Abraham Maslow, into what he called a “hierarchy of needs.” At the base of the pyramid chart are physiological needs, which include the physical health of the body. Moving up the diagram, we have “safety,” then “social,” and “self-esteem” needs. Finally, at the top of the pyramid, is “self-actualization,” meaning the expression of our true selves. Somebody who lacks in any of the lower levels will find greater difficulty being their true self. Lacking food, safety, social connection, or a healthy sense of self can have detrimental effects on the pursuit of higher things.
Some readers might think “self-actualization” sounds a little hokey—and it does—but it’s not. Your true self can be found in your connection to your higher self. Your body, your emotions, your image—these are not who you really are. In a recent Sunday message, we heard the words “sound mind in a sound body.” A healthy body is essential and necessary for the full expression of the spirit through that body, thus a certain maintenance of Maslow’s hierarchy is a good and useful thing.
With all of that said, we know well that the natural realm is not the purpose in and of itself. The purpose of the natural is to serve higher spiritual purposes.
When the Israelites received daily bread in the wilderness, and when the psalmist said, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,” and when the Lord said the drinker of the water He gives “will never thirst”—these verses are talking about spiritual needs, and spiritual needs are the things from the Lord that lead us to heaven.
We do have natural needs—things that are essential and necessary for this natural situation. When you start a sentence with “I need,” I invite you to try to be aware of whether it’s truly a need, or just a want.
And finally, I invite you to be aware of the higher needs that this natural world serves, and to really strive for those spiritual needs. The Lord says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”