The Two Dollar Rule

My mother likes to tell a story about when I was young. According to her, she once took me with her to the store and told me that I could choose one thing for myself that cost two dollars. I was excited to get a new toy and when I saw a Voltron robot, I knew that it was the toy that I had to have. The only problem (which you know if you have clicked on the link) is that the Voltron robot costs much more that two dollars.

When I pleaded that my mother get me that toy, she refused, citing the two dollar rule that I had agreed to before entering the store. I had already set my heart on that Voltron toy, so rules no longer had any meaning for me. When I realized that I couldn't convince her by an rational means, at least any rational means at the disposal of a child (“You should get it for me because I want it”), I resorted to every child's last resort. I started to cry.

I cried as my mom dragged me through the aisles to get the rest of the things she went to the store for. I cried in the checkout line. I cried all the way to the car. Finally, after everything was packed away and we were sitting in the car, my mom waited until I calmed down a bit, then turned to me and said, “Was that fun?”

“No,” I responded.

“Did you get anything?”

“No.”

And just like that, my mother turned the car on and backed out of her parking space, having taught me one of the most important lessons of my life. I learned that just wanting something is not enough justification to get it. We have to follow the rules as well.

It's important to note that my mother hadn't imposed the two dollar rule simply because she wanted me to learn to appreciate cheap things. At that point, my parents really couldn't afford anything more expensive for me. It is harder for parents to teach their children this lesson when they don't have that restriction. When you have the means to by a Voltron robot, it is hard to say no, especially when you have to suffer through the embarrassment of dragging a crying child around in public. But it is important for children to learn that wanting something is not reason enough to get it.

But why isn't wanting something enough reason to get it? If I want something good, why can't I have it right now?

If we instantly have our wants satisfied, we start to think that the world revolves around us, that we are somehow important simply because we exist. We get more selfish, more egotistical, and more lazy. We start to see people as mere means to our own satisfaction.

God did not intend for us to live that way.

When God curses the ground in Genesis, he doesn't say that it is to punish Adam. He says that it is “for [Adam's] sake” (3:17). Adam had to work in order to survive. That helped him to appreciate his life all the more. He was being productive. He was learning and growing. His life had much more meaning outside of the Garden of Eden, where he had to work, than inside the Garden of Eden, where all he had to do was pick his food from the nearest tree.

The world has evolved since the days of Adam though, and survival is not a pressing concern for most of us. But the same principles still apply. If I want to stand on top of Mount Everest, I can't just stroll up there. I have to buy the gear, train for an extended time, make some preparatory climbs, and then travel to Nepal and start the grueling trek up the mountain.

Similarly, if I want a million dollars, I better be willing to put in a lot of work over a long period of time. That is the way God intends for us to get what we want. Through work. However, there is another way. If I really want a million dollars, I can steal it. Getting up to the top of Mount Everest without the work would be a little more tricky—it would require getting someone to drag you up or something—but if it could be done, it would be worth far less than the effort that those who climb it put forth.

God has given us many commandments that work much like my mother's two dollar rule. He gave them to us for many reasons, but they have the added benefit of teaching us that we can't always get what we want (who knew that you could find pearls of truth in Rolling Stones songs?).

Take chastity, for one example. Our society says that if you want to have sex, you should be able to. Nothing should stop you. In fact, we are even working extra hard to disconnect sex from it's natural consequences, some of which are good, like pregnancy, and some of which are bad, like sexually transmitted diseases. A person used to have to confront these consequences if they wanted to have sex, which might make them think twice about having it. Today, though, those consequences are almost completely avoidable (the operative word there is “almost”). So why not allow people have sex when they want?

That's because sex is a sacred thing. It's the way we give life to more of God's children—or at least that's how God intended it to be. And it forms a strong, intimate bond between a man and a woman. God intended that as well. The relationship between a husband and wife is one of the most sacred unions that anyone can hope to enter into. It should have the utmost importance and provide the most meaning to a person's life.

When we compare that meaning to standing on top of Mount Everest or earning a million dollars, it becomes clear that skirting the divinely ordained way to get it, through marriage, cheapens it and makes it less satisfying.

As my mom drove me home from the store that day, I could have decided that I was going to work and save until I could by the Voltron robot for myself. If I really wanted it, that is exactly what I would have done. But I didn't. I got home and turned on the TV or started playing with some of my other toys. I wasn't willing to pay the price to get it, so it was clear that I didn't want it enough. God's commandments serve that purpose. They help us determine what we really want, and help us get them in a way that helps us get the most out of them.