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Godliness and Contentment

All of us are familiar with the scenario. Our neighbor, The Njoroge’s, drives up one day in their new Trooper. We can’t help but notice. That old Ford Taurus he had been driving was a respectable, but modest car. It made us feel comfortable. But this new Trooper is another story. This classy car makes us feel uncomfortable. In fact, a new emotion seems to surface. It is envy. It is the emotion known as "keeping up with the Njoroge’s."

We resolve the problem a few days later by driving up in our driveway in a new Lexus. Now we feel better. If this scenario seems familiar, it is because it is being played out everywhere across our nation. Our culture is geared to create these emotions in all of us. Notice the ads on the television. In general they are saying, "Look at these people. They are having a great time. Look at what they have. If you had what they had, you would be happy too. Don’t you wish you had what they had? Go out and buy it today! Don’t have the cash? Charge it!"

Those who design the advertising that we see, hear and read seek to encourage discontentment as a strategy to sell their products. Their job is to create a desire in you for their product. If they can get you dissatisfied with what you have, they stand a better chance of selling you what they have. Whether you really need it or not is immaterial. Unfortunately, they have been all too successful. Deep down within all of us, we know that this is not quite right. In fact, the Bible teaches that covetousness is a sin.

Contentment is the key to fulfillment, freedom, and security. Whereas a covetous heart is never satisfied, a contented heart is always secure. God calls us to be contented. Now you may be saying, "You must be kidding! How can I live like that? I’ll never get anywhere. I have ambition, drive, and motivation. I’m going someplace important. I am not going to let the world pass me by." You may be thinking these kinds of thoughts, but this is not the picture of contentment painted by Scripture. To be content does not mean to be passive. To be content is not the absence of ambition. A person can be extremely well motivated, with a great personal drive, and still be contented.

Contentment is a state of mind. Actually, I believe it is more a state of grace. The apostle Paul, in Philippians 4:11-12 (NIV), says, "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." How did Paul do this? The secret is found in the next verse, verse 13 (TEV): "I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me."

The contented person, like Paul, knows that God has given him not only everything that he needs, he has been given more than he deserves. In whatever circumstances he finds himself, he learns to praise God for the provision He has given. Christ is his strength. Christ is his provision. The contented person is secure in his Lord. Just look at what God has already done for you. The Lord has given you life. He gives you the air you breathe, the food you eat, the health you enjoy. He has blessed you with His forgiveness, salvation, and the promise of eternal life. He has given you your family, your friends, and so many other things that we take for granted.

Now look at your life. What have you given Him? Have you always been faithful? Have you always given all? Why do you want to shake your fist at God, claiming that He has been unfair with you? Look around you at others - not at others better off than you, but at others who suffer lack. It’s so easy to look at others who have more. It’s easy to ask why we do not have what they have. But look again at your own heart. Do you deserve even what you do have? No, look at those who are less fortunate. Are you any better than they? Look at Job.

The story of Job is an illustration given to us by God of a man who trusted in God, not for what God would give him, but simply because God was God. Listen to what Job says in 1:21 (TEV): "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" Satan thought that Job just served God for what God had given Job.

He accused Job before God (Job 1:9 TEV) saying, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? He goes on to say in Job 1:10-11 (TEV): "You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But now suppose you take away everything he has—he will curse you to your face!" Then God allowed Satan to take away everything that Job had. Job lost it all. Verse 22 (TEV) says, "In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God."

Job did trust God for nothing. He did not trust God for what God gave him, he trusted God for who God is. We must learn to find our fulfillment in Jesus. This world, and the things in this world, will never fulfill us. God wants us to find our fulfillment in Him. God wants people who will place themselves in His arms. He wants people who are secure in His provision, trusting in Him to provide what they need in His wisdom. He does not want grasping people, gloating people, people who are threatened by someone else’s possessions or position. He wants people with open hands, open hearts, open arms. He wants people who will rejoice when others are blessed, not when others suffer loss. He wants safe people.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Epicurus quotes (Greek philosopher, BC 341-270)

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

A safe person is a person through whom God can bless others, because He knows that person will not close his hand around what God puts there. A contented person is a safe person for God to use. The choice is ours. The choice between a covetous heart and a contented heart is very real and relevant today. But how do you make that choice? Many times we desire to be what God wants us to be and yet we find we don’t know how.
But it seems to me that we must first see the sin for what it really is. We must see it as God sees it. We must see its destructive power for us, for others, and for our relationship with God. We must despise it as an offense to a holy God. And then we must see ourselves as those who so easily fall into the bondage of covetousness. And we must be fed up with following that course in our own lives. Then we must repent with a genuine brokenness and humility. We must ask God to change our hearts and minds.
We must ask God to give us a desire for contentment, and a love for Him, along with a trust that He will supply our needs. And finally we must seek the things above. We must remind ourselves that Jesus is indeed faithful, whatever we feel, and whatever the devil throws at us. God, make us thankful for what you have given us. Help us to learn to be content in whatever situation we find ourselves, trusting in you to be all that we need.