How is being non-materialistic good for spiritual development?

It forces us to focus on the Spiritual (and thus non-material/invisible) things instead of the things of this world.

Spiritual developement is something that will have eternal benefits. Materialism is temporal and can get in the way of and hinder spiritual growth if we let it.

However, the counter point would be that we live in a material world. We have responsibilities and obligations that we have to take care of in order to be good stewards, which is important to God and does have spiritual significance. Some feel as though we must divorce the natural to embrace the spiritual and this is a false concept. Consider that God created the world and said that it was good. Consider that Jesus spoke about money in his teachings and the importance of stewarship on several occasions. The physical and the spiritual realms are connected. I would even go so far as to say that the natural reflects things that are taking place in the spirit. So, the conclusion...

While it is important to excercise ourselves spiritually we must not think we are somehow "less spiritual" by interacting with material things. We are made to interact with both...

You are not worried about what you have or if someone will take it away or you lose it or how devestated you will be if it is suddenly gone.

If you freely give your things away (what you do not use) then you can become dependent on God for the things you actually need. It doesn`t seem true, but the more you give (time, money, possessions etc) the more you have or at least you have the same amount.

When you do not care about possessions, you have the freedom to just go and do thangs that you want without worrying about taking care of what you have.

I think it helps in alot of ways. We learn to appreciate and value what we have. We recognize that many people all over the world get by with far less than what we have. I also think we indirectly help the planet by refraining from consuming. Anytime we are able to step out of our own ego's and stop feeding it with status symbols we clear a path for spiritual developement.

When the things you own don't contribute to your self-identity anymore, its easier to be more aware of your consciousness without egoic attachments and relation to forms outside your consciousness.

EDIT: That was too vague. You can either form your identity through objects. i.e. I'm an American man with a big house and two cars.

Or you can get to the core of your identity, which is just the pure consciousness of any given moment. If you had nothing at all, you'd still exist, but how would you define yourself? You might say, I'm a man. That's also just a label, but by going farther and farther inward and shedding those identifications, you simply "are", which sounds like new-age mumbo-jumbo, but its just a simple truth.

If you mentally cannot handle the materialistic gain, then you get emotionally out of control. That is a bad thing for you.

You put all you love into God, not material items

"No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

(Mammon being an Aramic word meaning wealth or property)

Spiritual development or affirmation? It's better to put your stock in God and store your treasures in Heaven than to "have" here and worship a "thing" you're not willing to share.

katiefish <><

Materialism is when to devote most of you time and energy to gaining wealth, and the things that come along with it. It takes time and energy away from serving God.

One less distraction. Less of a chance to develop idol worship.