Are you content? Have you experienced times of discontentment? Are you experiencing discontentment now? What do you think you need to be content? Do you have a plan to acquire or achieve what you need? Are you willing to be content with what you have?
Contentment often escapes us. We continually seek more. Enough is never enough. Our culture encourages us to run the rat race of achievement and accumulation. We jump on the treadmill and go as fast and as hard as we can. Far too often, we never achieve the lofty goals we set.
The Apostle Paul told his understudy Timothy not to chase the riches of this world. Instead, he encourages Timothy to pursue godliness. Included in his encouragement is to be content with having the basic necessities. Paul makes a statement that is often repeated: “we brought nothing into the world, so we can take nothing out of it.” As true as that statement is, we often ignore it.
Being content is a state of mind. It is all about our attitude. We can decide to be content with what we have. It is something I first started working on after going on a few mission trips to Romania. After seeing the contentment the people I encountered had, I realized I didn’t need to accumulate all the things I thought I needed. I started spending less, saving more, and using what I had been blessed with to bless others.
God has blessed us many times over. We are blessed with skills and talents. We are blessed to have jobs, a place to live, clothing, and food. One of God’s purposes for blessing us is so we can be both content and bless others. The more content we are with the basics, the more we can share our blessings with others.
I pray we recognize the many blessings we have received from God. I pray we decide to be content with the basics. I pray each one of us will share our blessings with others. Recognize your blessings. Be content with God’s blessings. Share your blessings. Seek godliness.
1 Timothy 6:6-8 Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it, but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
Marty Pressey 