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 can
do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians
4:11-13 (NIV)
But
godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world,
and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Those who want to get rich fall
into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some
people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves
with many griefs.
1
Timothy 6: 6-10 (NIV)
Keep your lives free from
the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I
leave you; never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is
my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews
13: 5-6 (NIV)
Contentment. I will admit I’m bad
at contentment. I have written in the past about my enthusiasm for fine sporting goods. I’m not alone, as a nation we are discontent. You can see it in
our spending habits. The amount of consumer debt per household is astounding.
We borrow to afford the things we want today but can’t afford. We try to fill
the God shaped hole in our heart with the stuff we like and we call it retail
therapy.
This behavior—this discontent—leads
to a bigger and more expensive lifestyle. That leads to more debt, more stress
and more stuff to take care of. Instead of us owning our stuff and enjoying our
lifestyle, our lifestyle and our stuff own us. This ultimately impacts our
financial plan. A big lifestyle usually equals big debt and a need for big
retirement accounts. A little lifestyle is cheaper.
Once we recognize the problem we
go out and use the credit card to buy books by Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman in
order to learn how to undo our debt problems. (No criticism intended, these
books do a great side bringing us back into a view of healthy stewardship.) We
spend the first half of our lives acquiring stuff and the second half being
owned by that stuff. Yikes!
What would it look like for the
average American family to embrace contentment?
What would happen to their monthly
budget?
What would happen to our financial
plan and our need for retirement savings?
As Americans are we living out
these verses on contentment?
How do these choices as
individuals and families affect our church, our community and our country?
Could a spirit of godliness and contentment change our
nation?
I’m preaching to the choir here. Have you embraced
contentment, and if so, how has it changed your life?
