Contentment is a Choice

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Living with contentment is a choice that we must choose to make throughout our lives. We cannot control a lot of what happens to us day to day, but we can choose to live with an internal joy and knowledge that God will take care of everything as he promises in Scripture, despite what our current circumstances look like. Paul in Philippians 4 tells his readers that he has found contentment in all situations, whether a free man who is preaching the gospel to hundreds or a chained prisoner in jail, because of his relationship with Christ and who he knows Jesus to be. How many of us could honestly say that we would still be content in a jail cell after going through all the near-death experiences that Paul has gone through?

Christ is the one who gives us strength to get through everything that we experience in our lives. He empowers us, through his Spirit, to do the impossible and get through what seems unbearable. Christ makes all the difference. Christ makes contentment possible because if you have Christ, you already have everything. If others can't see that, then we as Christ-followers have not done a good job of modeling what it looks like to live a life of contentment. As Christians, we need to do a better job of showing those outside the Church that Christ really is the most important part and most central part of our lives. 

Reflection/Discussion Question: Describe a situation where you have be able to find contentment despite the difficulty of the circumstances?

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