Resumo de Being Content - larry burkett

Write your abstract

here.Contentment

One of the great mysteries of Christianity is
contentment.

At least one must presume it is a mystery, because so
few

people live it. Yet contentment is not something that?s

found; it is an attitude.

Balance

There are many people who seemingly have little or no

regard for material possessions. They accept poverty as
a

normal living condition, and their major concern is
where

they will sleep that night or eat that day. In contrast
are

the affluent, who have the best our society has to
offer at

their disposal. Their houses, summer cottages, winter

chalets, and automobiles are the envy of the community.

Does either scenario bring contentment? No!

If money can?t buy contentment and poverty doesn?t
provide

it, what is contentment and how is it attained?

Contentment, contrary to popular opinion, does not mean

being satisfied where you are. Rather, it is knowing
God?s

plan for your life, having a conviction to live it, and

believing that God?s peace is greater than the world?s

problems.

So often Christians get so involved in the day-to-day

activities of earning a living and raising a family
that

they forget their real purpose in life: to serve God.
They

discover that their lives are out of balance and don?t
know

how to bring them back into balance. So, they buy more

things or get rid of things in order to bring back the

balance. However, nothing seems to work.

Christians get trapped into a discontented life by
adopting

worldly goals: more, bigger, and best. The Bible
identifies

these as indulgence, greed, and pride. For a while
after

accepting Christ as Savior, there is a peace and a real

willingness and desire to commit everything to God.
After a

while there is a tendency to fall back into the same
old

routine of desiring and getting more, rationalizing
that

somehow it is ?serving the Lord.? The evidence to the

contrary is a lack of peace, a lack of spiritual
growth,

and a growing doubt about God?s ability to provide.

In today?s society it?s not normal to step down. Once a

certain level of income, spending, and lifestyle is

attained, most will go into debt in order to maintain
that

level. Stepping down to an affordable level is
considered

failure. Yet, contentment can?t be achieved without

personal discipline and staying within the lifestyle

parameters God has established, based on His provision

(Luke 12:15; 16:13-14).

In poverty, the issue is usually black and white?you
either

have it or you don?t. In affluence, the deception is
much

more subtle, because anxieties and worries are not
usually

related to the lack of things but rather the loss of

things. In essence, most affluent Christians fear they

might lose the material things they have acquired.
Unless

they are so detached from the goods that they must be

willing to lose them they won?t find real contentment.
That

does not necessarily mean that they have to surrender
all

of their material possessions. It means being willing
to do

so.

God?s plan for contentment

Although many Scriptures teach about the dangers of

material riches, God?s Word does not teach that poverty
is

God?s alternative. God wants us to understand that
money is

a tool to use in accomplishing His plan through us. If
we

are to find true contentment we must establish some
basic

guidelines.

Establish a reasonable standard of living. It is
important

to develop a lifestyle based on conviction, not

circumstances. God will assign Christians at every
economic

level. On whatever level He has placed you, live within
the

economic parameters established and supplied by Him.
Just

having abundance is not a sign of God?s blessings.
Satan

can easily duplicate any worldly riches. God?s
abundanceis

without sorrow and is for the purpose of bringing
others to

Christ.

Establish a habit of giving. Along with the tithe, God

desires that every Christian provide for the needs of

others through the giving of offerings, gifts, and
personal

involvement.

Establish priorities. Many Christians are discontented?
not

because they aren?t doing well but because others are
doing

better. Too often Christians look at what they don?t
have

and become dissatisfied and discontented, rather than

thanking God for what they do have and being content
with

what He has supplied.

Develop a thankful attitude. It is remarkable that in

America we could ever think that God has failed us

materially. That attitude is possible only when we
allow

Satan to convince us to compare ourselves to others.
The

primary defense against this attitude is praise to God.

Satan uses lavishness and waste to create discontent
and

selfish ambition. Thankfulness is a state of mind, not
an

accumulation of assets. Until Christians can truly
thank

God for what they have and be willing to accept God?s

provision, contentment will never be possible.

Conclusion

Contentment is so far removed from many Christians that
it

seems that they will never be able to find it or be at

peace. However, contentment is not something that must
be

searched for and found. It is an attitude of the heart.

Once the attitude has been modified and all has been

transferred to God, contentment will be evident.

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