How To, Simple Exercises in Living Contently

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The following is an excerpt from the book Christ-Centered Contentment.

Young people will do anything to make others think they are older.  They will walk taller, try to use big words, and slide into the driver's seat before they are big enough to see over the dashboard.  Boys use their dad’s shaver six years before their face has even the remotest signs of stubble, and girls experiment with mom’s make-up when no one is looking.  In youth, it is a compliment when people think you are older than you actually are.  Young people hate being told they look or act young.  Then, somewhere down the road of life, things begin to change.  I call this “the turning point”.  All of the sudden being called “old” isn’t exactly a compliment!  Quite the opposite in fact.  It can drive some to the mall seeking an entirely new wardrobe and arsenal of beauty products and cause others to drive home from the car lot with a flashy, new, red convertible!  However, being called “young” when we are not will bring a smile to our face and spring to our step.  We have pulled a complete reversal.

The funniest thing about this process is that it happens unbeknownst to us.  There is a gradual change in mentality and perspective as we move through life’s various seasons.  Our interests and priorities change along with our physical bodies.  We start out life wishing we were older, but when we finally get there—we find ourselves wishing we were young!

How To

In a lot of ways, I believe the journey down the road of contentment is like our progression through the turning point.  We gradually gain an entirely different perspective towards our age as our thoughts and priorities shift.  Similarly, there is no grand epiphany that sets true Christ-centered contentment into our hearts (though perhaps we can point to certain events and realizations as milestones).  Instead, we gradually begin desiring different things, and contentment gains momentum as we draw nearer to Christ.   
Therefore, I encourage you to recognize along with the apostle Paul that contentment is a learning process.  You will not set this book down a content Christian.  Instead, you must begin to focus on the challenges of God’s word and take seriously the call to live contently.  As you persist in seeking to live with such convictions, you will find yourself years down the road with a completely transformed heart.  Much like you one day realized that being told you looked or acted young wasn’t an insult anymore, you will find that your internal culture of contentment will eventually reverse.  Your heart's desire will slowly transition from consumption to contentment.  You will move through life finding more and more areas to lay aside the world’s empty meanings and put on the richness of Christ’s promises.  However, I will say again:  This transformation is for those who endure with perseverance not explode with passion only to fizzle out later on. 

Similar to Christ’s parable of the sower’s seed, we must seek to condition our hearts to be good soil.  Let us lay down good roots and begin to cultivate a lifestyle of Biblical contentment.  Moving forward with patience, let us be content with the pace with which Christ changes us.

Exercises in Contentment

As a way to wrap up this small book on contentment, I decided to provide some practical applications.  The following list is a good start down the road of pragmatically pursuing a real sense of Biblical contentment.

• Seek Ye First.  There is a temptation to seek contentment for contentment's sake.  We must seek Christ and let the rest fall into place.
• Learn to be content.  Recognize that this is a learning process that will take time.  Be patient and persistent. You will never complete this lesson as long as you are on this side of heaven’s door.  The Holy Spirit will continue to teach you new and deeper ways to live contently.
• Pray.  Nothing of spiritual significance was ever accomplished without prayer.  It should be an active part of your pursuit of contentment.  Pray specifically that the Spirit would reveal your individual needs and areas to strengthen.
• Give thanks.  Regardless of what is going on in your life, start thanking the Lord.  Do not do this with impure motives or sarcasm.  Make it a daily occurrence to thank the Lord for the things in your life for which you are truly thankful.  Doing this regularly will change your heart.
• Give money.  The discontent, by definition, never think they have what they should.  From this position generosity is impossible.  When you begin to give, not only do you follow God’s commands for your money, but you also expose the fact that you have more than you need.  It takes a certain level of contentment to be a generous person.  Giving will bring a peace and freedom to your soul that is not enjoyed in stinginess.  Generosity is consumption's worst enemy and contentment’s greatest ally.
• Downgrade your lifestyle (Or at least resist upgrading).  This is not necessarily a long-term solution; however, it should have long-term effects.  Stepping down your lifestyle will challenge you to be more honest about the value you place on possessions and status.
• Expose yourself to real need.  Take mission trips and do service projects.  Getting out of the suburbs can have a dramatic effect on the way you view your needs and wants.  Seeing real need humbles you and exposes how much you take for granted.
• Analyze your appetites.  What are the things you crave?  Jesus said:  “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.” (John 4:14)  It is worth taking stock of the things you crave and reflect over whether or not those things are stealing your appetite for Christ.  In almost all cases, this will lead you towards simplification.
• Live within your means.  Debt and discontent love doing business together.  You must show caution and contentment before determining to borrow money.  In my observation, the content tend to leverage lightly (that is if they borrow at all); whereas, the discontent often drive themselves deeply into debt.
• Consider others before yourself.  I have found that the discontent find it nearly impossible to put others first.  However, the content have no problem esteeming others as greater than themselves.  This practice can do much to destroy your obsession with self-interest and self-indulgence.  Contentment is much easier to find when you take the focus off of yourself.
• Fast.  This is a practice rarely spoken of in the modern church, but Jesus said “when you fast” not “if you fast” (Matt. 6:17), and He promised the disciples of John that His disciples would fast after He left. (Matt. 9:15)  Begin to embrace this spiritual discipline that is made much of in the Bible but made little of in our culture.  It will expose you to how much you are enslaved to gratifying your own desires, reveal how much you take for granted, and heighten your sensitivities (among countless other spiritual blessings).
• Look further than your wallet.  People have a tendency to compartmentalize contentment into a financial issue.  As you now well know, it is a heart issue that transcends all of our daily life.  Seek to be content in your marriage, career, relationships, parenting, health, status, friendships, appearance, and on, and on.

The items outlined above are meant provide a starting point to begin living out Christ-centered contentment.  Don’t get hung up on the details or turn the list into legalism.  Begin attempting some of the challenges outlined above and feel free to make up your own. Start pursuing contentment with more passion than the world chases after riches and status.  Start seeking to reach your turning point.

Comments

[Rob Bennett]

Being thankful (or at least trying) has helped me a lot.

We now say grace before meals in my house. It's usually by rote. But every now and again and stop and focus on what is being said and it makes a difference. If we didn't do it every day, I wouldn't have those times when I actually stop and listen to the words.

In the old days I would have dismissed it as something meaningless because it is being done by rote. But the reality is that I need to do it by rote nine times to have the experience of the one time that I get something from it. It's not the practice of thanking God for my food that is messed up. It is my excuse-making machinery that is messed up.

It turns out that there was a good reason why so many people were saying grace for so many years. I wasn't smart to see through it but dumb for not seeing the wisdom in it.

Rob

[Holly]

Very nice post. It's sometimes hard to put others before yourself. But there truly is worth in avoiding self-centered actions...you are allowing God to grant that which you need. Let others be the victor and instead work on adopting an 'I have enough already' mindset.

[Harm]

This all should happen regardless of one's spiritual point of view, but it sure happens.....
and yes, being thankful (to whatever power you recognize) is an extremely
important part of maturity.

[John White]

Very thoughtful post, it reminded me of a Quote by Benjamin Franklin:

"Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody."