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Program D-7014
We’re looking at the ABC’s of grace-full living, what it looks like to be a truly graceful person. As we have seen, A is abundant living, B is bitterless living, and now we look at C.
C- Contented
Grace-full living is contented living. The dictionary says that a contented person is one who is satisfied with what they are and what they have; they want nothing more or anything else.
Does that describe you? I have to tell you that there are far too many days it does not describe me. I see a new house being built, and I think how nice it would be to have it. I peruse those catalogs that flood my mailbox and I can convince myself that I can’t live without something I saw in the catalog.
And we can lose our contentment by wishing we were a different person, with a different life, in a different place, having different gifts and abilities. Ever go there?
Living a discontented life will suck the grace of God right out of you. It will cause you to be restless, self-focused, resentful, envious.
Hebrews 13:5 says: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
This is something we must become intentional about doing. We have to work at it, if you please. We have to pray it into our lives. It doesn’t just happen.
The enemy of your soul will trip you up with discontent if you give him the opportunity. He knows that a discontented Christian is not going to dispense grace. So, he whispers those lies to you, convincing you that your life cannot be complete or full or good unless you have something or someone that you don’t now have.
But we can learn contentment. The Apostle Paul wrote: “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” (Philippians 4:12).
Contented living is freedom – and it is grace-full living.