Today I wish to talk to you about something that I think that we all struggle with in life, and that is being content. I am going to start out by saying that I have been a horrible example as one who is content in my past.
I have been driving for 5 years and I have had 5 different vehicles, none of them have been totaled. Arguable, my first few cars were not so great, but my fourth was a ’99 Honda Civic with relatively low kilometers. It was a great car that would have lasted me a long time but I had always wanted a Honda Prelude.
So I sold my Civic and went a few months without a car so that I could save to get a Prelude. I ended up with exactly what I was looking for, a well-maintained, low kilometer, eucalyptus green pearl Prelude. So I should be happy right? Nope. What I ended up with was conviction, I had a perfectly fine automobile that would have lasted me many years but I was not satisfied with what I had.
Honda Prelude by Brandon.Peters
It was a really empty and hollow victory that I thought I had won. You see, circumstances will never make us content, our attitude does. Being content is learning to enjoy and accept what God has given us, not by adding to what we have but by subtracting our desires. We are always told that we need more or that we will be happier if we have “this product.†But the way we are is exactly how God wants us to be.
Even to this day I still struggle, a month ago I was determined that I was going to purchase a Canon 5D Mark II when I got home (even though I can’t afford one anyways . But after hearing a Sunday sermon on contentment I have decided to just be happy with what I have and I feel so much better about that decision. I challenge you to look at your own life and see what you are not content with or what you think you need really badly and change your attitude.
“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” – Proverbs 23:4-5
2 thoughts on “Learning to Be Content”
That’s a hard thing to do sometimes – be content, but self control plays a big part in the equation.
A great reminder that true satisfaction doesn’t come from the “stuff” we own.