“…for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content”…Philippians 4:11
Many times in life, we find ourselves at some level of discontentment. It can be discontentment in our jobs or careers, in certain situations, and even within ourselves. It is normal to experience some form of discontentment, because it is sometimes the discontent that can give a person the drive to do or perform better. Discontentment only becomes a problem when it is left unchecked and allowed to manifest itself into other forms of conflict in our lives.
Here are three areas of conflict of unchecked discontentment:
1. Impatience: causes us to move ahead of God and abort the plan God has for our lives
2. Jealousy: causes us to become angry, unfocused on our lives, and become revengeful
3. Greed: causes us to never be satisfied, develop dishonest traits, and become selfish
Now we see how discontentment can breed other areas of conflict in our lives and rob us of our enjoyment of God’s blessings. But all is not lost, here are four ways to learn how to be content in our lives:
1. Get Understanding: a person should understand the difference between a need and a want. God provides all our needs (Philippians 4:19), and it is His desire to give us our wants as long as they are in line with His Will and purpose. Now I must add that God is not going to always fulfull all of our wants and desires because then we would run the risk of believing that we no longer need Him (Proverbs 30:7-9).
2. Practice Acceptance: A person should strive to be content and accept who they are, were they are in life, and the things they have been blessed with. Paul is a perfect example of contentment because even as he sat in prison, he was still content in his present condition. Paul was content because he know who he was in Christ and Who he belonged to. Paul relied upon the strength of God and the joy of the The Lord (Philippians 4:10-13).
3. Be Generous: When a person finds the opportunity to give to others, it helps with our contentment. A person does not have to have an abundance of material things to give, just simply the giving of our time can lead to contentment. Generosity can help to relieve stress (because a person is releasing and letting go) and it can help to bring out the joy that comes with giving.
4. Most importantly…Trust in The Lord: A person finds complete contentment when we give it all to Jesus! God is ALL that we need in life. God is our helper…not money, He is our provider…not an employer and He is our sustainer. He will daily give us everything that we need to be content and live a full life (Psalm 68:19). A person can also rest assure that He has THE BEST PLAN for our lives and is always working on it behind the scenes (Philippians 1:6).
Always remember this…”contentment is a state of mind. True contentment is only found when our hearts and minds are always centered on Jesus Christ and His goodness”.
Sharing in God’s Love,
Tamela