Read This If You Want To Be Content.

I Timothy 6:8-9 - "If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." NASU

• 12 Children or $1 Million

I heard John Ortberg speak once and he asked this question. Who is more content, a man with 12 children or a man with a million dollars? He said the man with the 12 children because he doesn't want anymore. While on the other hand the man with a million dollars would love to have another million dollars.

So let me ask a question. Are we more like the man with 12 children or the man with one million dollars?

Are we content or do we always want more?

We all know this can be a vicious cycle when we always want more. So what can we do to get out of this trap?

• Take Charge Of How You Think

The apostle Paul is telling Timothy that all he has to have is food and clothing and he will be content. How can he be so sure? Paul knows that he can control his behavior by the way that he thinks.

I read a book some years ago and the Dr. was saying that you should start now to cut back on your salt intake because if you have a heart attack the Dr. will tell you that you must NOT use salt. Once humans hear that we must NOT do something we want to do it all the more.

So the key for us being content is to tell ourselves that we are happy right now with everything that we have and that we don’t need anything else. We will want to repeat this over and over again to ourselves.

• Take Charge Of What You Read and Watch

It is hard to be content in the USA. TV commercials, radio advertisements and magazines constantly bombard us.

What do they all say?

If we don't have their product well then there is something wrong with us. We just aren't all we could be without the item they are trying to sell us. They are trying to sell us their product and it is their product that is going to make us happy or content.

That is a bunch of baloney. Things are not going to make us happy or content.

Happiness and contentment come when we are satisfied with what we already have acquired. What we need is to train ourselves in advance with what is known as "positive self-talk."

It is what the athletes use before their events.

We must listen to what we are saying to ourselves.

If we believe the commercials or advertisements that we have to have their product before we can be happy or content then we are going to sacrifice our peace and contentment because we don't have their product.

If we buy the product we will only have temporary contentment until the next article appears telling us that we really need this item in our life.

We must learn how to tell ourselves NO to things.

• Real Contentment Comes From The Lord

Real peace, happiness and contentment come from the Lord, we know this to be true. The Apostle Paul said all he had to have was some food and clothing and he was content.

In Philippians 4:11 Paul says it this way, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be a content in whatever circumstances I am.”

How did Paul learn to be content? By telling himself he had all that he needed and if he needed more God would supply it.

In Heb.13:5 God’s word says it this way, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”

So there we have it! We can be content BECAUSE God watches over us and He will NEVER desert or forsake us. If we really need something, ask God for it; and if God believes we need it, He will provide it.

How cool is that?

Think on This: 

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it. - William Feather

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago
Minister of God's