It's a Heart Problem
Theme of the week: Seek Soul Satisfaction
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Let us not become … self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another. (Galatians 5:26, AMP) Dig Deeper: James 4:1-3
Discontentment is most often born out of comparison. We look at someone who has it just a bit better than we do and feel cheated. Rarely do we look at someone who has it worse and wonder why God has been so good to us.
Spiritually immature people don't believe thanksgiving is born out of a change of heart; they think it requires a change of circumstances.
[But] a discontented person won't find contentment through any outward change. Put a discontented woman in a new and bigger house, and she'll still complain about the color of the walls or the entrance to the street. A discontented man can change wives, but if he doesn't address his own failings, he'll soon grow just as weary with the new one. Trying to find contentment in this world without addressing the inner person is like changing cubicles while continuing to work for the same company. Your location may change, but the overall environment stays exactly the same.
We can't always change our circumstances, but we can address our hearts—and our hearts are the ultimate guardians of contentment. For Jesus' sake, and for your own, work to find contentment even within current frustration. This is the way of authentic faith.
—Gary Thomas in Simply Sacred
My Response: Someone I know who seems content in any situation is … I will ask this person to share with me the secret behind his contentment.
Thought to Apply: Desire becomes sin when it fails to include the love of God or men. I am to love God enough to be contented. … I am to love men enough not to envy.—Francis Schaeffer (writer, Christian apologist)
Adapted from Simply Sacred (Zondervan, 2011) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.
Copyright © 2012 by Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
 share this page
Dear Heavenly Provider, may I trust you to provide all that I really need; help me to be content in all circumstances—both good and bad—and thankful for the many blessings I so easily overlook.
Men of Integrity
Connect with God | Transform my Mind | Live by His Power
Relate Better | Make an Impact
Home | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Men of Integrity
Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for Canadian Orders.
If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Men of Integrity as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| 
RSS Feed
