Resolving to be more content
Discontent fuels a large part of our economy. There are no advertisements that tell us to stick with what we’ve already got. No one sells anything by telling us to be satisfied with our homes, furnishings, cars, clothes, gadgets, and especially our physical appearance.
Even the news centers on discontent. Sure, there might be a feel-good story now and again, but it's mostly bad news. Everything that’s wrong with the world gets airtime. The most insidious stories are the ones where some self-appointed life guru tells us how everything we think and do is suddenly wrong, but you can buy the truth from them.
The Internet can be even worse than television as people from our real life promote one thing or another, which robs our contentment. People have cuter kids than yours. They take better vacations too. They drive fancier cars that require fancier gasoline and parts than yours does. Oh, and by the way, have you seen how often they exercise? How could you not, since they post it everyday and get medals every time they enter some event. Others in your circle of friends will be sure to let you know how much more they read than you do. They also watch way, way less television than you. But who am I kidding. It’s not just “them,” it’s me too. All of us at one time or another wind up marching in lockstep with the world’s vanity fair. We cannot help ourselves.
I am not saying we should all become desert monks tomorrow. Sometimes we might actually need to make a new purchase. Other times we may want to share our interests and hobbies with others. But if we are honest with ourselves, one reason we lack contentment in our lives is because we have not nourished it. Considering that so much of our daily experiences are aimed at stealing contentment, resolve this year to be the year you stopped letting contentment starve to death.
Many Christians know Philippians 4:13 by heart, but fewer know its context: “I [Paul] rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:10-13).
For Paul, either need or plenty went along naturally with contentment, but in the land of plenty, we have found it nearly impossible to be content. Looking again at Paul’s words above, the root of our discontent is the heart of humankind’s rebellion from God. We have believed the serpent’s lie that we really are our own gods, so we do all things through ourselves—we must give ourselves our own strength. In order to feed our strength, we turn to various products, knowledge, pleasures, and entertainment, being willfully ignorant of the emptiness they all leave behind.
Paul shared his secret for contentment long ago, but we are not good at listening to it. Stop living your life by your own strength, complete with all its pride and worries, and start living it through God’s. Resolving to do so will not make other people richer, like so many other resolutions will, but it might just enrich your own life. And, if we are really paying attention to God’s calling, it might also enrich the lives of our neighbors as our contentment breeds generosity. For no one is able to be hospitable or generous while discontent.
Even the news centers on discontent. Sure, there might be a feel-good story now and again, but it's mostly bad news. Everything that’s wrong with the world gets airtime. The most insidious stories are the ones where some self-appointed life guru tells us how everything we think and do is suddenly wrong, but you can buy the truth from them.
The Internet can be even worse than television as people from our real life promote one thing or another, which robs our contentment. People have cuter kids than yours. They take better vacations too. They drive fancier cars that require fancier gasoline and parts than yours does. Oh, and by the way, have you seen how often they exercise? How could you not, since they post it everyday and get medals every time they enter some event. Others in your circle of friends will be sure to let you know how much more they read than you do. They also watch way, way less television than you. But who am I kidding. It’s not just “them,” it’s me too. All of us at one time or another wind up marching in lockstep with the world’s vanity fair. We cannot help ourselves.
I am not saying we should all become desert monks tomorrow. Sometimes we might actually need to make a new purchase. Other times we may want to share our interests and hobbies with others. But if we are honest with ourselves, one reason we lack contentment in our lives is because we have not nourished it. Considering that so much of our daily experiences are aimed at stealing contentment, resolve this year to be the year you stopped letting contentment starve to death.
Many Christians know Philippians 4:13 by heart, but fewer know its context: “I [Paul] rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:10-13).
For Paul, either need or plenty went along naturally with contentment, but in the land of plenty, we have found it nearly impossible to be content. Looking again at Paul’s words above, the root of our discontent is the heart of humankind’s rebellion from God. We have believed the serpent’s lie that we really are our own gods, so we do all things through ourselves—we must give ourselves our own strength. In order to feed our strength, we turn to various products, knowledge, pleasures, and entertainment, being willfully ignorant of the emptiness they all leave behind.
Paul shared his secret for contentment long ago, but we are not good at listening to it. Stop living your life by your own strength, complete with all its pride and worries, and start living it through God’s. Resolving to do so will not make other people richer, like so many other resolutions will, but it might just enrich your own life. And, if we are really paying attention to God’s calling, it might also enrich the lives of our neighbors as our contentment breeds generosity. For no one is able to be hospitable or generous while discontent.
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