Contentment

[Guest]

Contentment

What does being content look like? How far does it go? Meaning: If you lost your job, you probably wouldn't stay in a position of being unemployed and then say: "well I'm just being content with what I have." That is a little extreme I know, but I'm hoping it gets to the heart of what I'm really asking.

As I look at the "Christian" community and observe people lives, I see people switching jobs, further education ect. ect, trying to "better their lives."

This really gets into so many things, most of which I can't even articulate all that I'm thinking about right now, but wanted to open it up for discussion

[Guest]

That is a GREAT question.... and I have absolutely NO idea. But I look forward to reading the answers!

[Guest]

As I look at the "Christian" community and observe people lives, I see people switching jobs, further education ect. ect, trying to "better their lives."


Hi, I think the contentment of the bible is being in Christ or to put it another way our relationship with God but i think that God gave us brains and physical abilities for a purpose.
And the purpose is to work hard in this world to accomplish all that we can and use the fruits of this in godly ways.
So i don't think contentment equates to being passive.

[Guest]

Hi, I think the contentment of the bible is being in Christ or to put it another way our relationship with God but i think that God gave us brains and physical abilities for a purpose.
And the purpose is to work hard in this world to accomplish all that we can and use the fruits of this in godly ways.
So i don't think contentment equates to being passive.

But... again, what does that look like? How far does it go?

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. (1 Tim 6:6-11)

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," (Heb 13:5)

[Guest]

If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for


I would be content with only food and covering but i would like to be prosperous through hard honest work yet i don't love money. But in this world money allows us to feed the poor , it pays for preaching the gospel, for printing bibles, for giving medical care to the sick, for caring for the elderly, caring for our family etc.
So i will be content either way but i do have a preference but the key is to "seek ye the kingdom of God first and it's righteousness and all these other things shall be added on."

[Guest]

I would be content with only food and covering but...

...but you're not. That is: content with food and covering.

I'm not picking on you, but I'll use you to further ask my question.

What does being content really look like?

You see, many Christians (including myself) want to better our lives. So in order to do that, we often will go for a higher paying job. We'll go for a job that we like better. We get higer education (not always, but most of the time) to further our careers. This doesn't stop outside the doors of the church, but it continues as most seek to rise the ranks of the ministry. "If you're faithful in the little things, God will open doors for you to do greater..."

So... what does being content really look like.

I hear what your saying Steve7150, but I'm not sure it is settling right.

Reason:

But in this world money allows us to feed the poor , it pays for preaching the gospel, for printing bibles, for giving medical care to the sick, for caring for the elderly, caring for our family etc.
So i will be content either way but i do have a preference but the key is to "seek ye the kingdom of God first and it's righteousness and all these other things shall be added on."

Everybody I've ever met that says that, is buried in their career with no time to "feed the poor, print bibles, care for the sick and elderly and caring for our family."

Again (please don't take this as directed toward you) I'm just not sure I'm buying that.

[Guest]

I have a lecture called "The Grace of Contentment," that can be heard at
http://www.digitalministries.us/steve_g ... ntment.mp3

What does contentment look like? It looks like resignation to the will of God, and fulfillment in it. This is not compatible with passivity, because the will of God is for us to be doing certain things, which become the basis of what we then will have. It will not do to sit idly and say, "I will be content with whatever things God may wish to provide for me," when the will of God encompasses His will for our actions as well as for our incomes.

The principal thing is to seek only the will of God and then to be resigned to what may come to me in that pursuit. It is the simplest of all Christian duties. Of course, knowing what the will of God is in many situations may not be simple or obvious, but that is all that needs concern me. Does He want me to marry or be unmarried? What kind of car shall I drive? Where shall I live? Does He want me to get a regular job...and if so, which one?

Whatever vocation God chooses for me will, most likely, come with its own, built-in, standard-of-living limitations. If I have opportunity to be promoted, or to change jobs, or to move into more comfortable accommodations, and these advances involve no compromise of my other Christian duties, then there is no harm in accepting these improvements as the blessing of God.

The key is to have no agendas other than to be in the will of God. That's what it means to "Delight yourself in the Lord" (Ps.37:4)—which includes the promise that "He will give you the desires of your heart." To delight in the prospect of attaining to some earthly status or circumstance, so that God is either seen as my servant to help me reach my goals, or else He is seen as an accessory for which I will try to find some room, if possible, in my pursuit of my goals, is to fail in this basic duty.

The exhortation, "Be content with such things as you have" is justified by the following rationale: "For he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" That is, if you have God, what else would you require? If your delight is in the Lord, then you will have what your heart desires—Him. That He is enough, with or without the addition of whatever worldly things one might desire, is a fact to which many throughout history have been able to testify.

So what does a content man look like? He looks like someone whose sole concern is to be pleasing to God in everything he does, and he pays little attention to his station in life or to the abundance of his possessions. These come to him in the course of his pursuit of God's will for him, and he neither wishes that they were more or fewer. They are not relevant to his happiness. This is not mere theory. I know this from experience.

However, this man's resignation will be sorely put to the test when, in our modern society, he finds few who sympathize with his passion for the kingdom of God, who look at him as anything but an anachronism, and who want to join him in his way of life. He may find himself living alone when he would prefer companionship, but this too is a circumstance in which to be content.

That the conscience is clear before God is the prerequisite for this kind of contentment. A compromised conscience will never be able to be content that God's will is being done in one's circumstances, because it will have no assurance that God's will was done in actions. When God is consulted in all matters of life, and obeyed in every decision, there is peace, joy and security—which, as I understand the matter, is what contentment looks like.

[Guest]

Everybody I've ever met that says that, is buried in their career with no time to "feed the poor, print bibles, care for the sick and elderly and caring for our family."

Again (please don't take this as directed toward you) I'm just not sure I'm buying that.



I know a couple of people who use their prosperity for the KOG. The lady who lead me to the Lord six years ago was a plastic surgeon who made several hundred thousand dollars a year and could have earned in the millions had she chosen to operate every day but instead she only operated twice a week so she could personally care for her patients. She gave away most of her earnings to ministries,charities and individual people.
Another person at my bible study is a lawyer who does very well yet he has a prison ministry and goes to prisons in Texas, Georgia and Tenn and is in constant contact with many prisoners. He trys to train them as disciples and in fact one fellow in GA brought many muslim prisoners to the Lord.
So i think all things are possible with God especially if your heart is right.

[Guest]

Hi Steve, thanks for the response, I've listened to that message before, but it's been a while, I'll revisit.

The principal thing is to seek only the will of God and then to be resigned to what may come to me in that pursuit. It is the simplest of all Christian duties. Of course, knowing what the will of God is in many situations may not be simple or obvious, but that is all that needs concern me. Does He want me to marry or be unmarried? What kind of car shall I drive? Where shall I live? Does He want me to get a regular job...and if so, which one?

Do you have any suggestion in those not so simple or obvious times? That is: suggestions on seeking God's will and knowing with confidence it is His will.

Also... have you ever been in a situation (like a bad job) where you've tried to get out, you've had other desires, but the door just continues to shut on you? I would assume in those times, one might say: "well, this is the will of God for your life right now." Then after trying and trying, the will of that person is completely broken and therefore he/she resorts back to passivity. Just accepting, this is where God has me, "I've tried to get out, I desire to get out, but nothing opens up for me."

Does that make sense?

Steve7150, it sounds like you've got some Godly examples in your life.

[Guest]

From Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest", March 20 reading:

The Delights of His Friendship. Genesis 18 brings out the delight of true friendship with God, as compared with simply feeling His presence occasionally in prayer. This friendship means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will. It is evidence of a level of intimacy which confirms that you are nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit. You are free to make decisions in the light of a perfect and delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will lovingly produce that sense of restraint. Once he does, you must stop immediately.

The Difficulties of His Friendship. Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He stopped because he still was lacking the level of intimacy in his relationship with God, which would enable him boldly to continue on with the Lord in prayer until his desire was granted. Whenever we stop short of our true desire in prayer and say, "Well, I don’t know, maybe this is not God’s will," then we still have another level to go. It shows that we are not as intimately acquainted with God as Jesus was, and as Jesus would have us to be— ". . . that they may be one just as We are one . . ." ( John 17:22 ). Think of the last thing you prayed about-were you devoted to your desire or to God? Was your determination to get some gift of the Spirit for yourself or to get to God? "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" ( Matthew 6:8 ). The reason for asking is so you may get to know God better. "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart" ( Psalm 37:4 ). We should keep praying to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.

TK