Philippians 1:12-18; 4:10-19
What weed seeds contribute to a poor crop of contentment?
- Forgetfulness — when it sprouts, squash it with a generous dose of contented remembering.
- Unthankfulness — uproot it with the proverbial attitude of gratitude.
- Comparing — instead of bottom-up comparing, try the hoe of top-down gratefulness.
- Materialism — don’t live for the present; establish your treasures in Heaven.
(Summarized from The Life of Contentment)
Be sure to read about the Israelites’ sin of complaining in Numbers 11:1-15.
- Is my discouragement any different before God than their complaining?
- “And the LORD heard it” — to what extent does that matter to me?
- How have I grown weary and dissatisfied with any of God’s provisions for me?
- What did I do this past week to overcome my complaining spirit?
Weren’t the Israelites a complaining bunch, though? So they got a little hungry, perhaps even hungry to a great degree, but that surely didn’t give them license to murmur against the Lord and against Moses and Aaron. They forgot so quickly the miraculous ways in which God had already provided for them. They were so governed by their stomachs that they actually stooped to pining for Egypt. The rumblings in their stomachs seem to have scrambled their logic to the point that they wished they had died by the flesh pots of Egypt with their hands and bellies full of bread. Whether they had died in Egypt instead of in the wilderness, would they be any less dead?! What a faithless bunch of malcontents!
I wonder if I ought to make a new rule by which to live. I am sure if I could follow through with this, God would derive more pleasure from me, others would enjoy my company more, and I would enjoy life more. Think about this. If I have food to eat and clothes to wear, I will complain about nothing.
Read the rest (including three tips for overcoming a complaining spirit): The Sin of Complaining
Additional Reading
