Learning to be Content

Being bound to Christ enables us to live out God’s passion,by His power for His pleasure.  His passion is to transform us into true worshipers in the image of Jesus His Son.  Honestly, I have a long way to go.  Let me share a story with you.

Lying in a hot, dark room in Haiti was uncomfortable but what we were doing made a difference to a few Haitians who had suffered much from a devastating earthquake.  We were sinking pumps into wells that had been dug by the people.  The days were hot but so were the nights.  We went to bed each night sweating and miserable.  But things grew unbearable when the man in charge of the house we were staying in would remove the battery from the generator that powered our fans to put in his truck.  We complained to one another about the situation and then finally, out of frustration, we demanded that the battery remain in the generator.  Eventually, we bought a new battery so this would not occur again.  Our grumbling about the generator demonstrated our self centeredness and lack of contentment.  We would return to the comforts of our homes in a few days.  These people would remain and continue to struggle against their environment and pain of loss.

To grumble is not loud and outspoken griping. It is the expression of dissatisfaction through continuous complaining.  It’s the chatter of cliques when they talk about others. This seems to be the way churches function often and it is really distasteful to mature believers and ironically, to those who are not believers.  Humility demands satisfaction, or contentment with yourself, your circumstances and others.  Later in Philippians Paul says that he has learned to be content in all circumstances.  Contentment or the absence of grumbling is a learning process.  Once again Paul brings Christ to the forefront and teaches us what he has learned; all things can be accomplished through Christ who gives strength.  With that in mind, here are a few hints toward contentment.

1.      Avoid complaining about anything.  Instead seek the Christ honoring words for the moment and if you do not find any remain silent.

2.      Avoid imagining yourself in a situation you are not in. 

3.      Avoid comparisons of your station in life with someone else.  They are probably thinking you are better off than they are.

4.      Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
Rules for Contentment #5: Never dwell on the morrow; remember that it is God’s and not ours.Rules for Contentment #4: Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
Rules for Contentment #5: Never dwell on the morrow; remember that it is God’s and not ours.Avoid dwelling on tomorrow.  Today has enough to dwell on.GodG    

5.      You can do all these things because Christ strengthens you to do them. (Adapted from Edward Pusey)

God's Passion, Power and Pleasure in Our Humble Attitude

Our attitude toward one another is significant in the eyes of God.  Jesus repeatedly told the disciples to love and serve each other.  Then He demonstrated the command through the greatest of love and service by offering Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God.

It seems evident that Paul had this thought in mind when he wrote Philippians 2.  Through the truth of God becoming flesh, His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, Paul teaches the attitudes Christians should live toward each other and the means of doing so.   Let’s first look at the example Paul gives for his command, “Have this mind among yourselves” (Philippians 2:5).

The example is Christ.  Paul says this about Jesus, “who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v.6).  The front of this verse states that Jesus existed as God, ‘form’ meaning of the same essence.  The last part of this verse affirms the first.  He was so truly God that it was not a consideration in His mind to be concerned with losing any portion of being God by becoming flesh. So at no time did Jesus cease to be fully God, even when He became flesh, the God-man.  An illustration may be helpful in understanding the humility reflected in Jesus becoming flesh.

Suppose Usain Bolt, the fastest human, were to agree to race with me in a three legged race.  In doing so, he would be in company with one of the slowest humans on earth.  In agreeing to tie himself to me, Bolt would be accepting my limitations.  The same is true for Jesus, who by becoming flesh accepted the limitations of flesh for the sake of our redemption.  In doing so, Jesus considered others significance over His own.  Paul’s encouragement to us is to be humble as Christ was humble.  How can we apply this principle to our life?

First, God is at work in you.  This is by the Spirit of God. His aim at working in you is to propel out of you spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), for His pleasure.  Setting our minds on the pleasure of God rather than our own breaks out into the greatest pleasure we can experience.  It equals the opposite of the above illustration.  When we bind ourselves to Christ, He enables us to live out His passion, by His power, for His pleasure.

In my next post I will share three qualities that move humility closer to becoming habitual.