CONTENT OR DISCONTENT - IN WHICH TENT DO YOU LIVE? #2

Two distinct choices about the quality of life are open to us; we either choose to be content or we choose to be discontented! We explored quite a bit about this subject in last week's blog. (If you haven't already, I encourage you to go to read that blog (8/3) first for the purpose of continuity.) Rather than rviewing that entry, let's move on. I'm assuming we all want to live in contentment, but we may be struggling to make that happen in our personal lives. Being contented may seem like a mountain we will never be able to climb! So, perhaps the following will help. Let's focus on The Development Of Contentment!

First, I Develop Contentment When I Sense Someone Cares For Me, when it is apparent to me that I am Loved! The Apostle Paul affirmed this with his message to the Philippians. "I thank my God in my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now" (Philippians 1:3-5). Paul's letter to the Philippians can be titled "The Book Of Joy" due to its strong emphasis on joy and rejoicing, even in the midst of challenging circumstances. You see, Paul wrote this letter while imprisoned! In it he describes his own personal joy and contentment, and out of that, he lets the Philippian Christians know he loves them. A noted physician recently identified several emotions that actually produce disease - fear, frustration, anxiety, rage, resentment, jealousy, and harboring unforgiveness.

He said, "Love is the only cure" for these adverse emotions. "For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the love of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. . . " (Philippians 1:8-9) "Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction" (Philippians 4:14).

A recent study of disfunctional teenagers shows how very important it is to TELL our children we love them. After the counselors had worked long enough to gain rapport with ten of the most disturbed students, they asked them how long it had been since their parents had told them they loved them. Not a single one could remember having heard such a statement. By contrast, ten of the most well-adjusted answered "this morning", or "last night", or indicated that they had been verbally reassured of their parents' love within the last few hours (Dr. Wanda Walker). YES! Love fosters contented living! And understand this, what we say to or about our children in their hearing, from infancy onward is deeply embedded in their inner spirit, hardly ever to depart! So affirm them with spoken love, kindness, tenderness, truthfulness and refrain from all the negative or disparagement, that leads to lessen their feeling of value!

Second, I Develop Contentment When I Know I am Growing! It is vital to know we are making progress toward greater maturity! "For I am confident of this very thing, that God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish until the very day Christ Jesus appears" (Philippians 1:6). "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). "I'm not saying that I have all this together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong; By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I am off and running, and I am not turning back" (Philippians 3:12) You see, the truth is that growth is fulfilling; growth brings Joy and Contentment! If we are NOT growing spiritually and in maturity, we are regressing, which brings discontentment!

Pablo Caral, one of the world's greatest cellists (1876-1973) at 95 years old was asked why he still practiced the cello 6 hours every day. He responded, "Because I feel I am still making progress." Art Linkletter once said, "I never want to be what I want to be, because there's always something out there yet for me. I get a kick out of living in the here and now, but I never want to feel I know the best way how. There's always a hill higher, with a better view. Something waiting to be learned that I never knew. Till my days are over, never fully filling my cup, let me go on growing - UP!"

Third, I Develop Contentment When I View My Circumstances In Light Of God's Plan! This means seeing the situation I'm in right now, and believing it has significance and meaning because God has a wonderful plan He is orchestrating! We may not understand it, but we are not called to understand, we are called to TRUST God since He is Sovereign! And He has our best interest in His plan! "Now, I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Gospel Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else too, found out that I'm in jail because of Christ, the Messiah; . . .most of the Christians here have become more sure of their faith than ever, speaking out courageously and fearlessly, about God and Jesus the Messiah" (Philippians 1:12-14). (See The Message Paraphrase of the New Testament) "But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering (executed) on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you, too, should be glad and rejoice with me" (Philippians 2:17 - New International Translation). Sound like a Contented Person? It sure does to me! Are you viewing your present situation in light of God's wonderful plan?

Jean Valjean in the novel "Les Miserables", an historical novel by Victor Hugo, stated, "it is nothing to die, but it is an awful thing never to have lived." The greatest pain is pain with no purpose perceived. It is like living with no cause, not seeing the bigger plan. God has His plan and I want to be part of it as He reveals my part in it, to me! How about you?

Fourth, I Develop Contentment When I Desire A Relationship With Jesus More Than Anything Else! Paul the Apostle testified, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as rubbish for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things as garbage in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have given up all things, and consider them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own. . .but that which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death! . . ." (Philippians 3:7). Do we honestly desire a personal relationship with Jesus more than anything else?

When Jesus Christ is the very center of our lives, the things at the circumference will be taken care of! When He Is The Center, He brings calm to the perimeter of life, even when everything around us is in chaos! Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, MY peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27). The phrase "let not your heart be troubled" is best translated "REST YOUR HEART!" Let's choose to live our life from the center out rather than from the outside in! That brings contentment!

Fifth, I Develop Contentment When I Live A Selfless Life! This principle surely flies in the face of this Me-ism culture we live in. The "me-first" life style only results in discontentment. The Bible is clear, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:3). Most of the contentment struggles we face in life have to do with self ----ME! I am the biggest culprit in not experiencing Contentment! If we could kick the person most responsible for our discontented attitude and actions, we wouldn't be able to sit down for weeks!

Are you ready to surrender your discontentment to God, and begin to live in the tent of contentment? The choice really is yours; no one can choose for you! But apply these five principles in developing contentment and you'll be well on your way to a new, much more satisfying mind-set!

NOTE: There are 5 more principles necessary to develop contentment, so please read next Sunday's blog!