How To Be Content 101

Content= happy, pleased, satisfied, delighted, glad, joyful, jubilant, ecstatic, elated, enraptured, euphoric, overjoyed, thrilled, pacified, placated.

Content= to appease the desires of. gratify, satisfy.

At the Women Encouraged Get Together Saturday, "WE" are studying "Cultivating Contentment"  A couple of things you might not have thought about.  1.  Contentment does not come naturally.  2.  It can be learned.

The apostle Paul in Phil. 4:11 says, "I have learned in whatever state I am to be content."  Let me just stop right here to say, that is just not an easy task.  Have you ever been really restless, bored, discontent about something and tried to make yourself content? 

Our first mistake is that we try to force the issue to adjust circumstances or things the way we want them.  Example:  If only I had a better job, was married, was single, looked like her, had her clothes.  We will do anything to try to make ourselves happy.  It can't be done on our own, we will never find contentment.

How do you learn contentment you ask?  Get rid of the bad habits that have formed over the years.  Bad habits are those things we do when even the smallest  sign of discontent starts to creep in. To name a few:  shopping, smoking, gambling, drinking, certain kinds of movies, the list can go on and on.  It is what we are trying to fill the void with.

Thoughtless Attitudes: Negative thoughts will definitely keep us in discontent.  Our battlefield is the mind.  It starts with a thought and before you know it the bad habit takes over.  What kind of things do you look for to satisfy the restlessness in your heart?

In Proverbs 30:15 (MSG)  King Solomon understood the insatiable nature of people.  He said "Greed has twin daughters and their names are "Gimme"  and "Gimme More".

There is so much in this world that simply cannot satisfy.  So what recourse do we have?  In Psalm 63:5 (NIV)  David agreed God was better than anything in the world.  My soul will be satisfied as with the richest foods, with singing lips, my mouth will praise you.  Psalm 90:14 (NIV)  Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

It is only God's love for us and ours for Him that can offer a lasting contentment.  Nothing can fill that void that only belongs to Him.

Why do you think we hang onto the fairytale ending?  Any comments?