Contentment

 

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. I Timothy 6:6-8 English Standard Version

One of the most intriguing aspects of the recent election cycle was the level of discontent expressed by my friends and acquaintances. In fact, if one chooses to believe the pundits, one of the major reasons President Trump won was a nationwide feeling of dissatisfaction with the direction of our nation. I find this quite interesting as this feeling is in direct opposition to almost any metric you choose to use. Unemployment is down. Wages are up. Crime is down. The stock market has been on a long-term good run. Border crossings by undocumented workers are down. We’re not at war. The manufacturing sector is enjoying growth. Yes, we still face challenges as a nation; but, we enjoy a standard of living that most of the world envies. Despite this, a majority of Americans feel like we’re headed in the wrong direction.

Political affiliation does not seem to matter. Conservatives and liberals alike bemoan the state and direction of our nation. Oh, they may cite different issues, but they all complain about things. It is as if we’ve all decided to become embittered Scrooges, stumping about in an endless Narnianesq winter, and I’m not sure why.

Such a grim outlook has devastating personal consequences. I know people who’ve allowed their frustrations to distance themselves from friends and family. Some have even given up on their local congregation. Now do not get me wrong. I recognize that we face serious problems in our nation. We’ve yet to eradicate poverty. Bigotry and ignorance still stalk the land. The budget remains out of whack and congress often seems dysfunctional, and there are others I could name. The point is, adopting such a grim outlook does not serve us well. It leads us away from gratitude and into discontent.

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Philippians 4:11

Paul writes this while a prisoner of Rome. He speaks of contentment as possible in any situation. Thankfully, I’ve never been imprisoned, though there were a couple of classes in my educational experience that might have qualified. Seriously though, we are a discontented lot and that is not something the gives the Lord honor. Discontentment does not reflet well on God. Especially here in America, we have much to be grateful for. But aside from being detached from reality, discontentment or ungratefulness is a sign of a deeper spiritual sickness. 

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. II Timothy 3:1-5

In his letter to Timothy, Paul warns of times of trouble. In his warning, he gives a list of character traits that indicate the sinful state of a people. The list includes ungrateful. Ingratitude shares space with unholy, arrogance, disobedience, and many other very negative personality traits. Despite this, we, in the Body of Christ, allow and even encourage ungratefulness. As I mentioned before, by almost any metric you care to use we enjoy a time of unprecedented prosperity and achievement. Yet our great blessings do not seem to have generated much in the way of gratitude. Even with the blessings we currently enjoy, we constantly carp about our situation. We seem to enjoy complaining despite the spiritual and mental cost.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21

When we allow an ungratefulness to take up residence in our hearts, not only do we participate in sin, but we also inhibit our own thinking. Instead of focusing on the great blessings of the Lord that we enjoy, we spend our time ruminating on the imperception fostered by our ingratitude. Soon we cannot discern the truth of our situation and like Paul said, our hearts are darkened, rendering us foolish. This may explain our inability to solve problems. We expend our energy complaining about things rather than working on solutions to the real problems we face. Ingratitude obscures the very real blessings we enjoy. Burdened by our misguided sense of impoverishment, we waste our time on frivolous and imagined issues. Instead of darkening our minds by consuming doom-and-gloom propaganda, we should embrace contentment and gratitude and the joy they bring.

Once we exist in a state of contentment, we can stop looking over at the “other guy” in jealousy motivated by frustration and anger. Thankful for the manifold blessings from God we enjoy, we can approach the issues of this life with a clear heart and clear mind. Then with this clear and thankful mind, we can turn our hands to solving the very real problems we face.

Thought Questions:

1. Do you consider yourself blessed?

2. Why or why not?

3. Why do you think that we, in America, are so discontented despite being so blessed?

4. How much of your prayer life is devoted to thanksgiving?

5. What could you do to increase your sense of contentment?