You can read the passage by clicking here
It's amazing how selfish, bitter, and naive I can become when I focus only on what I don't have rather than what I do have. It seems I'm predisposed to begin looking for more and better than what I already have. How ungrateful and egotistical I can become when I look only at what I don't have. How narcissiistic!
Paul wrote to the church in Phillipi,
"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." (NIV) Paul learned the secret of being content.
He learned it.
This is not natural behavior. It's unreasonable for us to assume we will have feelings of contentment. We must learn why we're to be content and how we're to be content.
A couple of things that have helped me and would've helped Haman:
1) Count your blessings! Thank God for what you do have. Are you healthy? Do you have people that you love and love you back? DO you have any change in your pocket? DO you have any food in the fridge? Do you have clean water to drink? Do you use an indoor toilet? These are a few things that help keep me grounded, because the majority of people in the world are missing many of these things we take for granted.
2) Pray James tells us "You do not have, because you do not ask God." I regularly share my passions and wants with others, but don't commit them to prayer. How much am I trusting God in all this? When I make it a focus of prayer, I put it in GOd's hands. After all, he's good! He sets everything before me. He is the one in control. If he thinks it would be good for me to have it, then I can trust that.
3) Ask yourself, "Why do I want this?" James continues, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." If your motive is simply for you, maybe your heart isn't where it needs to be. Maybe you're putting your treasure in things rather than God. What's your motivation?
These are just a few of my thoughts. What are some ways you can learn to be content?
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