"Be Content"

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5

Lately, I have been hearing the word "be content" from many different sources. (Therefore, the Lord must be trying to say something.) By nature we tend to be anything but content. We never seem to have enough or what we have isn't good enough. We are always wanting more, more, more, bigger and better. Relationships are broken because one spouse becomes discontent in the marriage. Their spouse no longer satisfies them so they go looking for someone "new"- younger, prettier, more understanding, etc.- to fulfill their discontentment. People have lost their homes from outrageous debt because they weren't content to have a home that would meet their need, they wanted a "castle" that was bigger than they could afford; or they went in debt to buy things that were unnecessary just because they wanted them or thought they would "fulfill" their lives. (Just because we want it, doesn't mean we have to have it.)

We aren't content to have just what we need, we want everything, including what we can't have. You've heard the saying, "The grass always looks greener on the other side". Maybe we should rewrite it to say, "The grass always 'seems' to be greener on the other side". Just because it looks greener doesn't mean it is a good thing. I heard one person say that it was greener because it was on top of the sewage line- it was being fertilized by the sewage.

The Apostle Paul said he had learned how to be content. We need to learn the same thing. Contentment has a high value- "Godliness with contentment is great gain". (1 Timothy 6:6) But there is ruin that comes from being discontented. It will rob you of your peace, take away your joy, lead you down a path to destruction, and so on. It also shows a lack of thankfulness to the Lord for what He has blessed you with.

Is there anything wrong with wanting something nicer or better? No, as long as contentment is still there if you can't get the "nicer/better". I said that Paul learned how to be content, let me read what he said about it (I love how it reads in the Amplified Bible)- "Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]." (Philippians 4:11-13) Have a great day. We need to learn how to be content.

For further reading:
Matthew 6:20
1 Timothy 6:8

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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