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Tell Me You’re A Christian Without Telling Me You’re A Christian || Contentment
Law of the Upgrade:
- Never go backward
Everything comes at you either to make you fearful or to buy something
- Your teeth aren’t white enough
- Your clothes aren’t good enough
We live under the constant lure of “THE MORE”
LAW OF “THE MORE:” The more I have, the happier I will be
Not just possessions:
- Experiences
- Authority
- Fame/influence
- Money
- Things
More is not necessarily bad
Life abundant in Jesus Christ
But the constant desire for more is…
TELL ME YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN
Being a Christian isn’t a way of living, but knowing a person
Generosity
Your generosity will tell the story of God’s love in your heart
Contentment
Christian Contentment: Being fully satisfied in God alone, not what he or his creation provides
- Being satisfied with Jesus for his own sake, rather than just what he can give you.
1: Contentment Is Learned
- Like a child growing up, we learn to just be satisfied
Philippians 4
11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.
Contentment is learned through Hardships
Contentment is can be learned with either plenty or little
Contentment isn’t an emotion, it is both perspectives and thought patterns
Generosity is a response to God’s goodness, Contentment is resting and trusting in the same goodness
2: Contentment Clears your view
- You see what you really need
- Coveting blinds you to your wants and tricks you into causing pain/destruction to get it
David is on the run from Saul, his king, and father in law
- David is hiding in a cave
1 Samuel 24
3 When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave, 4 so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “As the Lord is my witness, I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 With these words David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.
Because David was content, he was able to SEE CLEARLY the decision and its consequences
- David’s heart was protected from “THE MORE”
What was at stake?
- David already anointed king
- Had won many battles
- Saul was an evil man
Being Content Does not mean that you are settling
A lie about contentment is that you are giving up
- Hope and dreams
- Greater things
The other side of Contentment is Coveting
Exodus 20
17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Contentment Says: I already have — Coveting Says: I will never have
Coveting leads to bondage and selling yourself for the “Things” you want
Contentment is:
Rest
Peace
Hope
Joyfulness
Psalm 131
1 Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes arrogant; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. 2 I have certainly soothed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child resting against his mother, My soul within me is like a weaned child. 3 Israel, wait for the Lord From this time on and forever.
An unweaned child clings to its mother for what she can give it
A weaned child sits with its mother for her presence
Are you clinging to God for what he can give you?
- Or are you learning to cling to him because of who He is?
Tell me you are a Christian without telling me you are Christian
“The More” only demonstrate we want more of this world than we want of our Father
Christian Contentment: Being fully satisfied in God alone, not what he or his creation provides
Philippians 4
11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
The level of your contentment will demonstrate the level of your trust in God