We all want to be happy and satisfied in our lives. We want to have the sense that our lives are complete, whole, and everything they are purposed to be. The thought that possibly we are missing out on something can be haunting. When our secret thoughts continually center around a theme of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfillment no matter how life has blessed us, unrest and emptiness abound.
Jesus taught a lot about how to have the best life possible. He desires for us to learn the art of being content. Here are some key points in His teaching…
o.o1 Be satisfied in God first and foremost–
Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
God not only has everything we need to be content, God is everything we need to be content. When, through faith and a personal relationship with Jesus, we respect and have a deep sense of awe of God, we grow to learn that we can be content in Him alone. As we look towards material possessions and accomplishments to make us content, God often asks us the question, “Am I enough for you?”
When we grow to become satisfied in God alone and not things and accomplishments, we find a place a peace, wholeness, and fulfillment nothing can steal. So much of the things life gives us can be taken away, that’s why when we tie our contentment to them we will never be satisfied, but rather often disappointed. Jesus taught that earthly pleasures will never be enough for us. The moment we have one thing, reach one level, accomplish one thing, we will be dissatisfied and want something else. However, when we grow to a place where God Himself is enough for us, our well of satisfaction will never run dry.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
o.o2 Become a generous giver
The world says that if you want to be content then you need to, “Take take take, and keep, keep, keep.” Jesus teaches that if you want to be content, “Give, give, give, and serve, serve, serve.” Jesus turns the whole idea of being happy and satisfied in life upside down. In fact, in the Kingdom of God, you only get to keep what you are willing to give away.
When our possessions possess us, you can be sure contentment soon leaves the building. It seems like money and material possessions should be able to fill the satisfaction cup in our lives. And, for a short period of time, they can. But soon enough, we want and need more. Enough is never enough. As the saying goes, “happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you already have.”
However when we become givers, we soon realize that contentment comes not in what we have, but in what we give. As Jesus taught, it is in giving that we actually receive in a way that satisfies the soul. Find me a person who has a serious void of contentment in their life and you will have found a person who is probably doing a lot more “taking and keeping” and a lot less, “giving and serving.”
Furthermore, when we become givers we also become thankers. A thankful heart is the pathway to contentment. When we are thankful people, no matter our circumstances, we can find the cup of our lives to be half full rather than have empty. Looking at our lives through the lens of thankfulness is the quickest cure to the cancer of dissatisfaction and lack of contentment.
o.o3 Keep the past in the past
Shame, guilt, and regret are Satan’s darts used to pop the balloon of our life from being filled with contentment. Life isn’t always about doing the right thing, sometimes it’s about taking what as been done and making it right. Letting the past dictate the future will eclipse the presence of contentment in our lives. The more we are unsatisfied with the past, the more we will be unsatisfied with the present and future. Somewhere along the way, we have to cut the cord emotionally, and let the past be the past.
When you do this, you are able to enjoy the present for what it is. You are not sizing it up to anything in the past. You are free to move on and enjoy taking hold of a brighter future. Discontent with the past only leads to discontent with the present and the future. You can’t do anything about the past, but you can do something about today.
Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”
Notice that God doesn’t say, “Yesterday is the day…”
o.o4 Discover and live God’s Purpose for you life
Spending time and energy on things that don’t matter rob of us of true satisfaction and fulfillment. The worst thing in life isn’t failing, it’s becoming successful at things that don’t really matter.
There is a huge difference between significance and success. You can become successful without ever being significant. Significance is focused on impacting the things that God cares about. It’s about pouring our lives into causes that are close to the heart of God. Living your life to be wealthy, comfortable, and secure is not a cause that is close to the heart of God. God is not interested in you promoting yourself, but in you promoting Him. People who spend their lives on self-serving pursuits are never truly content. It’s only when we align our lives with God’s purpose for it that we become fulfilled and content.
There are many ways to discover God’s unique purpose for your life. However, in short, I believe God’s purpose for your life can be found where your greatest gifts from God meet God’s greatest needs in the world. Right within the pain of your life you can find God’s purpose for your life. God wants to take our misery and turn it into a ministry. When we combine our circumstances, gifts, personalities, resources, and struggles and connect them with God’s greatest needs in the world, we will be well on our way to discovering God’s unique purpose for our lives.
Don’t waste your life becoming successful, spend your life becoming significant.
As you do that, make sure you become yourself and not somebody else. When we try to become other people and live other people’s lives we will never find true contentment. If you can’t become content in who God created you to be, how can you become content with anything else? God didn’t create you to spend your life trying to be somebody else. Think of it this way, if God created you to be you, and you are not willing to be you, then why did God create you in the first place?
Playing the comparison game as you evaluate your life based on what everybody else has, does, and is, will keep you from ever being satisfied and fulfilled in life.
0.05 Focus on holiness not happiness
So many people live their lives pursuing anything and everything that makes them “happy.” God doesn’t mind you being happy, but He does mind when what makes us happy gets in the way of what makes us Holy. Happiness doesn’t always lead to holiness.
Furthermore, happiness is highly overrated. Happiness can be taken away from you and is often based on what is or isn’t happening in our lives. If people like us, we are happy. If they don’t, we aren’t happy. If our job is going well and the finances are solid, then we are happy. If we hit a bad season at work and the money is tight, we aren’t happy. So much of happiness is codependent on life.
Holiness, on the other hand, leads to something better than happiness… joy. Happiness can be taken away from you, true joy cannot. Holiness brings us a satisfaction and contentment that the world cannot touch. It enables us to have a sense of joy no matter our circumstances.
Holiness isn’t about living a perfect life, it’s about progressing spiritually and striving to do the right thing even when it feels wrong. Holiness is about asking the Holy Spirit,”What needs working on in my life?” and then allowing the Holy Spirit do what only He can do, and that is to change you. Holiness is about seeing ourselves as God sees us. God loves all people and sees people who believe in Him as “the righteousness of Christ.” For the believer there is no condemnation… none!
When I look in the mirror I can be content with what I see, not because I am perfect (far from it), but because of how God sees me and who I am becoming in the process.
It’s not about being happy, it’s about being Holy.
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