HOW TO BE CONTENT
Kendra Intihar
Today’s Scripture: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5, ESV
Theme: Be content with your situation. Love God more than you love money, affluence, spending, or working.
ACCORDING TO MY DAD
When I was growing up, my daddy’s constant refrain was, “You’ll never be happy with what you get until you can be happy with what you’ve got.” He had learned it from his dad, and he passed it along to my brother and me. I’ve been able to recite it since I was a little girl, and it has become a powerful mantra in my life. Because it’s true.
ENTITLED
I remember him driving me to high school in his beat-up, rusted-out, old red Toyota. I’d not yet realized that people were too busy dealing with their own self-consciousness to pay attention to me, so I would make him divert from the car rider line and drop me off at the back of the parking lot. I didn’t want anyone to see me getting out of a rusted-out old Toyota. He knew why I was making him go to the back of the parking lot. And he still did it for me.
I could tell a hundred stories like this, but then you’d just think I was a brat, so I’m gonna stick with this one. I had bought into a less in-your-face version of the “prosperity gospel” - the idea that God would make me wealthy if I just had enough faith and that hard work always meant worldly success. If I believed hard enough or worked hard enough, I could have a mansion. And a butler. And a boat. And a giant, magazine-worthy bathroom. And a kitchen with that fancy tile backsplash I loved so much. And a closet like Cher’s from the movie Clueless. This type of faith was empty and unsatisfying because it made me want and strive for more “stuff,” instead of more Jesus.
GREAT GAIN
First Timothy 6:5 says that people of corrupt mind have been robbed of the truth and believe that godliness is a means to financial gain, “but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:6-7, NIV). Godliness with…did you catch it? Contentment. Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Around the time that my dad owned that old pick-up truck, I was busy swooning over my aunt’s beautiful home, wishing we lived somewhere like that, imagining how different my life would be if my friends could visit me in a house like hers. It was my “dream home.” Still is. It’s a beautiful, modest, 2,500 square foot home built in the late 70’s in an old neighborhood with tall, sturdy oak and pine trees and giant bird-filled yards. There was beautiful walnut crown molding, deep, moody rooms with the loveliest cozy furniture you’ve ever seen, tassels on the drawer handles, and the scent of bergamot, coffee, and happy nostalgia hanging in the air. I remember walking into that “dream home” in high school and seeing a picture of a giant, gaudy house stuck on the fridge. When I asked about it, do you know what my aunt said? “That’s our dream home. When we make enough money, we’re going to live in a house like that.”
At some nebulous point between 11th grade and my 30th birthday (probably starting from that moment in front of my aunt’s refrigerator), I realized my dad was right about all of it: You cannot possibly be happy with some new acquired thing until you learn to find contentment exactly where you are. I am learning that the better part of contentment depends not on our circumstances, but on how grateful we choose to be in them.
Make it Personal: Have you ever seen the quote about remembering that you once prayed for the things you have today? Ponder that for a moment. What “desires of your heart” has the Lord given you? A home? A way to get to work? A job that pays your bills? A child? A spouse? A best friend? A little extra time with a loved one? He loves us so much. We have all been blessed in ways that we, at some point in our lives, could only dream of. And are we now satisfied? This week, intentionally place yourself in a posture of gratitude toward God for the many, many gifts He has given you along your journey.
Pray: Lord, it is so easy to think of all the things I think would make me truly happy. I confess that I believe I deserve these things. I ask for your forgiveness for all the times I’ve wanted more instead of acknowledging the ways you have provided for me – not only for my needs, but also for the truest desires of my heart. God, bend my heart toward gratitude so that I can find contentment right here, in exactly this moment, in exactly this place. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Read: 1 Timothy 6:5-11; Matthew 6:26; Psalm 145:15-16
Weekly Memory Verse: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5, ESV