How to Be Content

How To Be Content

"I have learned ... to be content ..." Philippians 4:11

Well it's the morning after Christmas and I was hit with the "bug" late afternoon and have been in bed feverish and nauseous for the past ten hours. Sounds like so many people have been hit with this fun one.

How many of you spent time finding and picking out the "perfect" gift for that special someone in your life only to find out that when then actually opened your gift, they weren't quite as excited about the gift as you were? How did you feel at that point? Frustrated? Hurt? Disappointed?

The problem with our culture is that "stuff" will never make us content. We make a list of all the things that we would like or want, and then when we get them -- we find that the joy in that gift is so fleeting and more temporary then we thought.

Many of us those same issues with the bigger concerns of life -- we go from level to level of wanting and thinking we need this or that, only to discover that we are just not content. Listen to the words of speaker/teacher/pastor, Dr. Eric Crichton, Board Member Emeritus of America's KESWICK:

"When Paul declared that he had learned how to be content, we must understand that he is not saying that he has learned just how to "put up with" a difficult situation or that he has just learned to "grin and bear it," so to speak. What he has written is much more triumphant than that."

The Greek word “content” has in it the thought of learning to be “sufficient” or “adequate” in any given situation. In other words, Paul has learned how to “live above” all the difficult experiences through which he had passed. According to 2 Corinthians 11, those experiences were overwhelming, including stripes, beatings, stoning, shipwreck, imprisonment, etc. Yet in all of these difficult times he had learned to be sustained, to live above, to be upheld. As he added, I know how to be abased, how to abound, to be full and to be hungry. And there was but one secret.

It was not in Paul himself but because of Jesus Christ who infused His life and strength into the Apostle. As Paul explained, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Dr. J. B. Phillips expresses his truth so well when he wrote, “I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular, I have learned the secret of facing either poverty or plenty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives in me.” There it is, “ready for anything” through Jesus Christ who infuses His life and strength into us.
In Colossians 3:4 Paul writes, “when Christ who is our life.” That is just to say that when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, He undertakes to be our life and to live His life in us. That, of course, is through the grace of the indwelling Holy Spirit."

Can you say today -- I have learned to be content? Something to think about on this 26th day after Christmas. I trust you had a good day with your families. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 26; Haggai; Revelation 17

Great Quote: We have false expectations of our holy days, of our churches, of each
other. We have false expectations of our friends. Jesus did not. He had expectations, but they were not false, and when they were not met, he
did not fall apart. He was never taken in by golden calves! Friendship
not only takes time, it takes a willingness to drop false expectations,
of ourselves, of each other. Friends - or lovers - are not always
available to each other. Inner turmoils can cause us to be unhearing
when someone needs us, to need to receive understanding when we should
be giving understanding. Madeleine L'Engle