Love is the sugar that can be found in the rest of the fruit of the Spirit. It is the thing that makes the other fruit sweet. The reason we love fruit more then vegetables are because they are sweeter.

Today, I want to give you some practical strategies to be in a place of contentment. We know we should be content. We know discontent is a spiritual place we don’t want to be in. We know it isn’t an emotional place we want to live in. So how do we stay content?

Practical strategies for contentment

Praise and thanksgiving

What you consume

What you talk about

Giving generously

We have increased goods and blessings for the purpose of blessing which produces thanksgiving to God! Think about a fellow believers response when you supply a need. You bring them groceries, repair their car, mow their grass and they say Praise God!

Motivation matters. Paul says giving out of bounty and abundance verses taking because you want what someone has is what matters. The NLT says willing gift not grudging. If you are not content you will never have enough left to give. If you are not at a place of sufficiency you will never have enough to spare. However, if you are looking around at your bounty you can always find something to give.

Contentment allows us to pursue the right goals, God’s goals, our own goals, not our neighbor’s goals.

Contentment allows us to make long term choices, instead of short sighted choices. Contentment allows us to choose wisely. It is the foundation that helps us do hard things to accomplish important goals. One of the enemies of contentment is coveting.

Jesus is always trying to get us to live for eternity. He wants us to live with God in mind. We are always getting sidetracked trying to make heaven right here. I think that is particularly true for us as Americans. We have this thing called the American Dream. We spend our lives building our ideal here and forget our true destination is heaven. And so, we are working to make more money, or spend more time or build more of this or that because we are looking to build that perfect life. Live for the weekend, live for retirement.

It is a misallocation of time and resources. This man’s time and resources was focused on being comfortable and getting to a point where he could relax. But God wanted him to use is time and resources for the kingdom of God. This man would have made his decisions differently if he knew he was going to die that night. He would have done something else than build a barn and plan for retirement.

Our decisions are based on a false premise. I will be content if… I will be happy when… God calls this foolish. He says this is the wrong goal.

Discontent is a misallocation of effort and desire. We are aiming toward making wise decisions from a foundation of contentment. How do we build and maintain contentment in our lives?

Contentment is being satisfied that all my needs are met and now I can go and do the things that God has put into me to do. Discontent is a misallocation of effort and desire. Contentment and discontent are a heart issue that affect our efforts and desires. When we are discontent we are focused on something other than what is God is trying to do in us and through us.

Contentment is being satisfied within what God has provided. For the record, contentment is not laziness, apathy, indifference, or despondent. We have lots of direct scripture asking us to cry out when we are in trouble and many examples of God coming to the rescue of those in need. It is clear, we are to make our requests known to God and He is happy to respond to us.

Making wise choices from a foundation of contentment.

Contentment is a spiritual state.

Discontent is also a spiritual state.

We know contentment is universally a good thing. We know it is something for which to aspire. We know that it is better for us psychologically. However, contentment and for that matter discontentment is deeper than that. It is a spiritual state.

What does that mean “spiritual state.” What we are really getting at is that contentment says something about our relationship with God. Discontentment says something about our relationship with God.

Learn how to identify and avoid what is foolish. We discuss what the Bible says about sexual appeal and how to identify and avoid its harmful affects on our lives. Proverbs 9 shows us how we can build our house in a way that gives us a fulfilling life.