In my previous article, I shared that contentment isn’t found in possessions or in our health. I named a couple of Bible characters who suffered well. Their contentment wasn’t found in their circumstances but in God. He was their source of joy. You can find part 1 here.
COVETING IS THE ENEMY OF CONTENTMENT
First, let’s define coveting. Coveting deals with our desires- it’s selfish and idolatrous. We want for ourselves what others have. Coveting is more than just saying, “It would be nice to have a better car” or “I would like to have a better job.” Coveting says, “I want their car”, “I want what they have”, “If I could only have what they have, I’d be happier.” It’s the inward desire to possess what doesn’t belong to us. It’s a greedy desire in which we crave things but we remain unsatisfied. Covetousness distracts our hearts (Ezek. 33:31).
Coveting is a sin. It’s a violation of the tenth commandment. And as we know, the fulfillment of God’s commandments are these- Love your God with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matt 22:37-39), and love your neighbor as yourself (Rom. 13:8-10, Gal. 5:14). How can we love our neighbor when we are coveting what is theirs? This can lead to other sins. For instance, it can create bitterness and jealousy towards the person who possesses what we desire, therefore, we fail at loving our neighbor. Coveting also focuses on what we want, so it becomes about our desires and what makes us happy- leading to selfishness. We are less likely to think of the needs of others when we are the focal point. We can look at other verses that talk about coveting (Heb. 13:5, Rom. 7:7-8, Ex. 20:17, Deut. 5:21, Eph. 5:3).
COVETING AND GOD’S GRACE
Coveting can also hurt our walk with Christ. We start believing that God is more gracious with others simply because we see that they possess certain things we don’t. Coveting says, “Why did God give that to them and not to me?” This attitude reveals that we aren’t trusting in God’s timing, wisdom, goodness, and/or His love. It also exposes our discontentment with what we have- as though God hasn’t been gracious towards us. It’s believing that what God has provided isn’t enough. We start thinking that God doesn’t give us what we deserve. And this is true in a sense- because the reality is that God doesn’t give us what we deserve, because what we deserve is His wrath, and yet, we receive His mercy every day. Every bit of mercy, grace, and other gifts from above are more than what we deserve.
The problem is not wanting to buy something or having nice things. It becomes a sin when our desires turn into covetousness, and we seek to find joy and fulfillment in something other than God. There is so much that can fall under covetousness. It’s more than just having an inordinate desire for materialistic things. Although I didn’t cover all these areas, I wanted to provide a brief example.
CAUSES OF DISCONTENTMENT
Discontentment and our view of God are directly linked. Lack of contentment reveals that we are not trusting God in some area(s) of our lives. We’re placing our trust in something other than Him, and whatever we’re placing our trust in, is not satisfying our needs. A lack of knowledge of God’s character can also be the cause of our discontentment. Knowing the character of God is crucial for our lives. It helps us trust who He is and what He is doing in our lives despite what we may perceive. Romans 8:28 says that everything is for our good, and we must believe that.
Not knowing or misunderstanding our purpose in life can also lead to discontentment. If we think that the purpose of our salvation is to be wealthy and healthy, not only have we missed our calling, but we will seek after worldly pleasures. And when these worldly pleasures don’t come our way, we will find ourselves unhappy and complaining. We also tend to compare how much we have to how much we need to be content. Adam and Eve had the whole world before them, and yet, they believed that if they ate from that one tree, they would have it all and be content. How much alike are we? We have abundance in Christ, but yet, we want what isn’t meant for us. We should live for the glory of God, not to glorify ourselves. Westminster Shorter Catechism says this, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever” (1 Cor. 10:31, Ps. 73:24-26).
Another possible cause of discontentment can be due to a lack of awareness that we’re made for another world. Or not being intentional about reminding ourselves of this truth. We will never find everlasting contentment in worldly things, and recognizing this will help us refrain from placing our hope in these things for joy. When we realize that we’re simply travelers of this world, we will start living with an eternal perspective.
RECOGNIZING DISCONTENTMENT
To some degree, we all struggle with discontentment. We must examine our lives and see where and why we struggle with this. We should then confess our sins to God, repent, and start working towards tackling these sins that steal our joy. This never comes easy, but God will help us overcome this through His Word and prayer. As we’re putting off sin, we should also be working on putting Christian virtues- such as patience, thankfulness, and meekness.
The thing with covetousness, the enemy of contentment, is that it can creep into our lives without us realizing that we’ve fallen into sin. It is subtle, and sometimes we’re unable to discern it in ourselves. Or unable see the difference between covetousness and good desires. We can look for things such as envy for someone else’s possessions or lifestyle, obsession with a specific thing that consumes our thoughts, lack of gratitude for what we have, and greediness. We can recognize coveting by what we focus on. It’s a dangerous sin because we start to focus on what this world has to offer, which takes away from our eternal perspective and recompense. We begin to neglect our calling and start setting our minds on earthly things.
GROWING IN CONTENTMENT
God wants us to believe truths about Himself and us. And we learn these truths by studying and reading His Word. The moment we take God out of our circumstances, we’ll find ourselves lacking contentment. God doesn’t want us looking at our circumstances, He wants us to look to Him, and remember His promises. Until we trust God’s promises, we will struggle with being content. Even if we don’t have other things for enjoyment, we can still learn to be content in our current situation (1 Tim. 6:8). All the good things we possess come from God (James 1:17), and we should be grateful for what He provides. We must make a conscious choice to be content regardless of where we find ourselves.
We will experience suffering, trials, tribulations, and pain. Not only do we know this by experience, but also because God warns us about this in Scripture (1 Pet. 5:10, 1 Pet. 4:12, James 1:2, Ps. 138:7, John 16:33). Nothing in this world is secure. One minute we may have health and comforts, and the next we may be without them. Ecclesiastes 1:14 says, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” Just like the wind, things cannot be held in one’s hand. We cannot hold on tightly to anything, except Christ.
ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Although God has given us this time in the world, He created us for eternity and has placed that reality in our hearts. This is why earthly things don’t fulfill. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says this, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to the end.” And because of this truth, we will only find fulfillment in Christ and in doing things that glorify Him.
We don’t know how much time we are given, but whatever time we have, we must live with an eternal perspective. This perspective points us to what is lasting, not temporal, which will affect our priorities and our actions. If we focus on the things in this world, that’s what will consume us. And if our minds are set on the things above, we will focus on things that glorify God. The more we value Christ, the less we’ll value earthly things. If we understand and trust that God has ordained time and a season for everything, we will be content to wait on the Lord.
In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus commands us not to lay up our treasures on earth, but to lay them up in Heaven. Jesus knows our hearts and reminds us of where we need to place our focus. Nothing that we own is going with us when we die (1 Tim. 6:6-11), so placing all energy in possessions is vain. We should be consumed by pursuing holiness and sharing God’s word with others. So how do we lay up our treasures in Heaven? By bearing fruits of righteousness and obedience. We should be looking for ways to bear more fruit. We can examine this by how we love others, showing grace, our prayer life, walking in wisdom, repentance, and simply put- by submitting to the commands of our Father in Heaven.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Are we living for eternity? We should be using the resources that God has made available to us so that we can make a difference in the lives of other people. Are we using our talents to further the kingdom of God? Are we pursuing holiness? There aren’t any earthly pleasures that can compare to the glory that is to be revealed. We have to look passed the physical and visible. That’s how Paul faced suffering (Rom. 8:18). One day we will be free of sin, suffering, tears, anxiety, sorrow, and pain. We will be able to live in the presence of God for all eternity in perfect peace and joy. Even if we lose everything right now, we still have God. And no matter what trials, sufferings, and pain we endure in this world, our souls are safe. Salvation is our greatest treasure, and in that, we should rejoice.
Love the content.
Hi Daniel. Thank you for your encouragement. I appreciate your feedback.