Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we

The words of Martin Luther King, Jr.—“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.”—resound with the power of moral clarity. In them, King pierces through the illusions of wealth and possession, reminding us that material things are but tools, never the essence of humanity. Property is soil, stone, and shelter—it may clothe us, protect us, or sustain us—but it is not our soul. When men begin to value property above life, when possessions outweigh the dignity of human beings, then society has lost its way.

The ancients, too, taught this truth. In the words of Jesus, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” The Stoics declared that riches are “externals,” things neither good nor evil in themselves, while true worth lies in virtue. Even Plato warned that a city that exalts wealth above justice will collapse into tyranny. King speaks in this same tradition: property is part of the earth beneath our feet, useful but lifeless, temporary and perishable. Man, however, is spirit, breath, and eternal dignity.

History gives us many examples of this conflict between property and life. In the days of slavery, human beings were treated as property, their freedom and humanity crushed beneath the false god of ownership. The system claimed legal rights for masters, but denied the sacred worth of the enslaved. The result was centuries of cruelty, rebellion, and bloodshed. It was a living testament to the truth of King’s words: when property is placed above the dignity of human beings, society commits its greatest sins.

Consider also the Civil Rights Movement itself. King saw that segregation was not merely a denial of access to buses, schools, or lunch counters—it was a system that exalted property and privilege over the life and dignity of people. White-owned businesses fought to protect profit, while Black men, women, and children fought for the right to be seen as human beings. King declared that no accumulation of material wealth, no wall of legal “rights” around property, could outweigh the call of justice.

Yet King’s words also offer a vision of balance. He does not condemn property outright, for it has its place. Fields must be tilled, homes must be built, bread must be baked. But all of these things are meant to serve life, not dominate it. When wealth is used to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and educate the young, it fulfills its rightful purpose. But when wealth is hoarded, when possessions become idols, when respect for property outweighs respect for human beings, then society becomes enslaved to its own creations.

The lesson is urgent: never forget that things are not people, and people are never things. Guard your heart against the love of possession that blinds you to suffering. Use what you have—your land, your wealth, your tools—not as trophies of pride but as instruments of service. For the measure of a man is not in what he owns, but in what he gives. The measure of a nation is not in the size of its wealth, but in how it treats its poorest citizens.

Therefore, let us live as King teaches. Let us walk upon the earth with reverence, but remember always that we are more than dust and stone. Let property serve life, and not the other way around. Let us place justice above wealth, dignity above possession, and love above ownership. For in the end, the treasures of this earth return to the earth, but the worth of a human soul endures forever.