7 REASONS TO BE CONTENT

1. We have eternal life!

John 3:16, 1 John 5:11-13
2. We are loved by God!
Romans 5:8
3. We are totally accepted by God!
Romans 8:1
4. We are adopted into God's family!
Romans 8:15-17
5. We can talk directly to the King of the Universe!
Hebrews 4:16
6. We have a reason for living!
2 Corinthians 5:18-20
7. We have a hope for a great future!
Ephesians 1:18, Titus 3:7

"If only … "

Two words that pepper our conversations, seasoning our lives with feelings of unrest and
dissatisfaction:

If only she'd go out with me …

If only I could make the track team …
If only I could have her looks …
If only I had more money …

When we're honest with ourselves, we readily admit it: Who we are and what we have are never good
enough. We see an ad with a gorgeous model and we want to be her (or him). We walk through a
store and crave all the great stuff we know will never be ours. We watch action-packed movies and
feel like our lives are boring.

It seems we're never, ever satisfied.

Sometimes, though, our lack of contentment isn't really all bad. Sometimes it's even good.

Dissatisfied with their poor record, members of a baseball team practice until they're nearly
unbeatable. Computer whizzes like Bill Gates aren't satisfied with clunky software so they give us the
wonderful world of Windows. And a Christian who isn't satisfied with her spiritual growth digs deeper
into God's Word.

But our discontent turns ugly when …

We let jealousy and envy have its way.

"You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others
have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away … " (James 4:1-2, New Living
Translation). OK, so maybe we don't exactly murder to get what we want, but if words and
thinking could kill, there'd undoubtedly be a few casualties.

We try to fill up our emptiness with more emptiness.

When people feel lonely and unloved, their search for love can lead them from sexual partner to
sexual partner. Their lives feel boring, so they seek excitement (and escape) through alcohol or
drugs. Even "good things" aren't always so good when done for the wrong reasons. Base your self-
worth on straight A's and you'll feel absolutely worthless when you get a C.

So how do we find contentment?

There is nothing on this earth that can truly fill up our inner emptiness. Why?

Blaise Pascal, a famous French mathematician and philosopher, put it like this: "There is a God-
shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by
God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ." If we try to stuff anything but God into that God-
shaped hole in our lives, we'll end up dissatisfied, restless, discontent. But fill that God-shaped hole
with God and what do we find? In a word: contentment.

Sounds great, but does it really work? Well, listen to what the apostle Paul says:

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being
content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I
can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:12).

These aren't just nice, religious-sounding words. In fact, they are the heartfelt words of a guy who
was in prison when he wrote them. They are also the words of a guy who had once been one of the
most powerful people around. And they are the words of a guy who passionately believed status,
power, wealth and anything else he'd ever had were all worthless "compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord" (Philippians 3:8).

Paul didn't depend on his circumstances or situation for happiness. In his way of thinking, he could be
happy when he had everything or he could be happy when he had nothing at all. He'd discovered the
"secret" of true contentment: A deep, personal friendship with Jesus Christ.

There's nothing that compares to this friendship. It's a friendship that holds the secret to a truly
satisfying life. It's a friendship that leads to a life filled with contentment.