Dear Teacher, in one of the television programs, you spoke about the piety of a scholar. The person sharing the story was also a scholar. He said that, many years ago, the wife of a certain scholar asked her husband to buy her a pair of shoes. He replied that he would have to consider whether she wanted them out of necessity or out of desire. He then told her that she wanted them out of desire, so he did not buy them. His wife said, “That’s all right; I can make do with these shoes for a while longer.”
But we don’t think about this when we shop. For example, we buy separate clothes for formal occasions and for the home, and we buy things because they are in fashion. Each of us has our own tastes, and if we like something, we buy it.
I remember that in one of your talks you said that when God grants wealth to one of His servants, He likes to see that wealth reflected in the servant’s life—of course, within each person’s means. Could you please explain how we can strike the right balance in such matters?