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
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.
Contentment
So 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
“Better one handful with tranquility than two hands full with toil and chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:6 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. This does not mean that it is easy and we don’t give it our full effort, it simply means we are doing what God created us to do. In this place, we can sustain high performance for long periods because we are working from our 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.
“Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil – this is a gift from God”. Ecclesiastes 5:19
Have a great Labor Day…..
-Duane