Word of the Week - Contentment

But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and we can taking nothing out of it….But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  1 Tim 6:6-12

Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day?Labor Day is an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated in the late 1800s during one of America’s most challenging chapters during the height of the Industrial Revolution.  There was much achieved by our young and ambitious country at the expense of many.  During that time the average American worked 12-hour days seven days a week to eke out a basic living.  Many of these folks had no choice because they were simply trying to survive and they had the grit to do whatever it took.  Today the pendulum has seemed to have swung the other way with a culture fraught with apathy and entitlement.  God put us on this earth first and foremost to know and love Him and each other (great commandment), and secondly to be productive and purposeful.  This is godly contentment.Definition of ContentmentSo what is contentment?  The world generally defines contentment as a quality or state of being satisfied with your portion and condition in life.  This definition is mostly geared towards the physical or material state of being.  The biblical definition of contentment goes beyond the physical realm and focuses on our internal condition and perspective.  Godly contentment is much more focused on the condition of our heart and soul.  Are we at peace with God and our eternal condition?Contentment in all Circumstances Saint Paul spoke clearly about his amazing contentment in the face of many external trials and challenges in Philippians 4:11-12 “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 am convinced that if we receive the gift of internal contentment through our hope and trust in God, it will permeate into our external lives allowing us to find contentment in all things and situations, which is truly a blessing that we all desire.  That being said, our Western values and self-focused culture of materialism and social media makes it very easy for us to get sucked into the swamp of envy and discontentment, which at its core leads to discontentment.  It is clear that God has called His people to a life marked by contentment.  So how do we gain godly contentment and extricate ourselves from the pervasive appeals of our materialistic culture?  We seek godly purpose and contentment!!!Godly Contentment vs. Worldly Ambition This has always been an interesting and challenging topic for me.  On one hand, I love the ideal of the American Dream and grew up believing that personal ambition was a very good characteristic that gave me the drive to pursue and achieve my dreams.  I learned early in my life/career that too much ambition if not tempered with godliness and contentment can lead to destruction.  I almost lost everything (wife, family, health) during my mid to late 20’s because I was so ambitious and insecure.  Through the pain of this experience, called the school of hard knocks and by the grace of God, I discovered the amazing gift of godliness with contentment in my early 30’s and it has been life changing.  It is a beautiful thing when we come to the realization that God is our provider and He is truly the one that we should be striving to honor and please.  Most importantly that He has a plan and purpose for our lives that is way bigger and better than our own, and if we submit and align to His plan for our lives, we can live with godly contentment that Paul describes in Philippians 4 above.  This is an amazing sweet spot where we are living to our full potential by using our gifts and talents to the full while at the same time keeping our lives in good and healthy order.  It is like a world class runner who is running at an amazing pace but does not seem to be straining or struggling because they were built with the god given talent to run and they are just doing what God called them to do.  This does not mean that it is easy and they don’t give it full effort, it simply means they are doing what they were created to do and thus they are in their groove and can sustain extremely high performance for long periods because they are in their gifting.  If we “Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness” Matthew 6:33, then we find godly contentment and will flourish.  Divine order leads to divine blessing which produces godly contentment.Have a great Labor Day…..-Duane