Have you ever walked outside your door and looked over to see your neighbor pull up in the new shiney car of your dreams? Someone you know is always crossing your path with something new, or something you’ve desired to have, but haven’t ever been able to purchase.
Feeling discontentment
I think we’ve all been there before. Did you get a feeling of discontentment. The feeling that you needed to have what they have? Maybe the feeling was so strong that you decided to go out and buy the same item or something similar.
I know that when I graduated school (many years ago now) and moved away from my home town I was quite content with the car my parents purchased for me. But after I had met new friends and saw the new cars or different types of cars they were driving, I felt discontent.
I wanted a new car. In fact, I wanted the type of car I had desired to have all through school. Because of my discontentment, I decided to finance a new Jeep Wrangler. I could afford the payments, but I couldn’t have bought the Jeep with cash. My discontentment led me to buy the new car before paying off school loans and saving.
Bible and contentment
My story isn’t uncommon. It’s not natural to be content, but it can be learned as in the below scripture.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I 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. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4: 11-13 (NIV)
Avoid the purchase
I could have avoided the purchase by not comparing myself to others. If I had been more focused on my own situation and goals, and less concerned about what others had, I would have avoided the car debt. Instead, I might have been able to save for the purchase.
Ignore society
As with car, clothes, or other material items, our natural desires are conformed to what the world thinks is is fashionable or of high status. One of the most important things we can do is to ignore society’s perspective on material items. If you allow yourself to to be conformed to what society is telling you what you need, you’ll soon find that you are discontent because you never seem to have enough.
The race to have enough things can never be won. It’s a race not worth running because it only produces financial frustration and sorrow. Contentment, as described in Philippians, is not having a sense of needing anything, being happy with little or much, because God is the provider of all that we need.
How do you stay content with your situation?
Photo by inajeep.
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