CONTENTMENT HOW TO GROW IN CONTENTMENT Review Week

CONTENTMENT HOW TO GROW IN CONTENTMENT

Review Week 1: Contentment is the quiet, trusting spirit that willingly submits to God’s will, whatever he sends our way, and finds its joy in the treasures of Christ rather than any provision of this world we may have or lack. Week 2: Complaining seems normal, natural, and acceptable to us because everyone does it, but the Bible treats complaining as a significant sin – an attack on God’s character: his goodness, his sovereignty, his wisdom, his love.

Cultivating Contentment #1 #1: Scripture calls us to reduce our desires to fit our circumstances. The Bible argues that the secret to contentment is to want fewer things, to reduce our desires, so that we are not setting our hearts on things in this world.

Cultivating Contentment #1 1 Timothy 6: 6 -9: “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ”

Cultivating Contentment #2 #2: Make it a practice to express thanks for what we have. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. ” 1 Thess. 5: 16 -17. “Make it a point to thank God specifically, daily, and worshipfully…Praise strangles grumbling. Gratitude starves disputings. Constant thankfulness to God is the best way to constantly mortify [that is, kill] complaining. ” – Geoffrey Kirkland

Cultivating Contentment #3 #3: Think differently about our possessions. It’s all God’s “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. ” Psalm 50: 10 -11. “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. ” Job 1: 21.

Cultivating Contentment #3 #3: Think differently about our possessions. It’s all God’s “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” – Abraham Kuyper

Cultivating Contentment #3 #3: Think differently about our possessions. God is worth trusting “[God] is not a stingy monarch and his gift-giving never depletes his storehouse. We do not need to hold on to or get more stuff for our security. We have everything guaranteed in him, so this frees us to be content now knowing what’s coming [in the future in eternity]. God doesn’t just command us [to be content], but he gives us a reason to be content. ” – Michael Horton

Cultivating Contentment #3 #3: Think differently about our possessions. Things in this life don’t satisfy “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to…set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ” 1 Tim. 6: 17 -18

Cultivating Contentment #4 #4: Remember that we can’t just try harder to be happy or content The more we are thinking about and amazed at the goodness and greatness of God, the more we will be able to trust Him and be content in Him.