The High Cost and Source of Discontent!
If I had to choose just one overarching quality or attitude toward life to have and to hold as the constant practice most beneficial to having a great life experience it would be – contentment. I have written in previous posts about contentment, proposing that contentment is found in a choice we make based on an accurate understanding of God’s goodness, sovereignty, and plan for us, rather than a group of circumstances that occur at a given time. Contentment, or the lack thereof is a constant choice we make as we perceive what we believe to be reality about our sufficient state in life moment by moment. You and I choose contentment – or not. When we choose not we are by definition discontent. Discontented people are not happy people, they can’t be.
Discontent fuels so much of the pain that we experience in our lives! For most of us what we have is never good enough and we live in a constant state of delusion and delayed hapiness because we don’t have whatever it is…..yet! Yet? Yet means that we don’t have it now but it is coming, sometime…but not now. The problem is that contentment, happiness, peace, and joy only exist in the now! In the moment. We can remember them from the past, we can hope for them in the future, but we can only experience them in the present moment! Look around! Who do you know that has these qualities as a consistent characteristic of their lives! Do you? If not, why not, are you waiting for… yet? We don’t have to live for …yet! There is another way.
The delusion that causes us this disconnect is no accident, it’s an intentional strategy. There is a source for this unhelpful way of thinking about reality. At heart discontent is a product of the pit of hell.
God is using Satan to create the opportunity for choice in life. God doesn’t want robots to love Him back because they can’t. The only love that matters is love that is a choice and has a cost. God has created us with a free will to choose and make meaningful choices. Satan has limited but significant power to offer us alternatives and he has created an alternative reality to offer in place of true reality as defined by God.
Satan’s reality is the world’s system of material reality and value and it’s values are all drawn from the material and temporal. They are packaged in shiny, attractive, and sexy boxes but the problem is all the boxes are actually empty and opening one only leads to wanting another. There is never enough whatever. Remember, “If you can’t be happy with what you have, you’ll never be happy with what you want” because what you get becomes what you have.
Think about it. How many times have we set a goal or had a desire for something, committed ourselves to strive to get it, got it, and found that the satisfaction doesn’t last and only leads to another goal or desire that leads to another…. Whether it is a net worth, a degree, a job or promotion, a relationship – anything outside of ourselves, our inner person.
Two pervasive characteristics dominate our 21st century culture and have been the source of so much of the world’s pain forever; competition and comparison. Our American culture is so totally captured by the misuse of these two that it is almost impossible to find examples of lives that aren’t totally given over to them. Our education system, the over-importance of sports in our culture, our attitudes towards our careers, almost everything we do is fueled by comparison and competition.
Our economy, the world’s economy, is driven by advertising that bombards us constantly with messages designed to make us…discontent with what we have. Think about it! Talk about pervasive!
When we live looking outward in this way, comparing ourselves to others and striving to compete with them in what is perceived as a zero sum game we can never be content. If we can’t be content life is….what would you say? Frustrating? Empty? Tiring? Busy,busy?
Are you content? What would you say to God if He spoke to you and said “Your life is as good right now as it will ever be. You’ll never have any more stuff. No one will ever think more highly of you than they do. You’ll never be promoted or get a raise. ” Chances are He will never say that but, if He did, could you say “That’s OK Lord! I don’t deserve what I have and it’s plenty for me. Thank you for caring for me and giving me all I need to do and be all you want!” If you can you are not only content, but blessed beyond most who have ever lived and have received the first gift of Christmas. It all starts there.
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Buck Jacobs, Chairman and Founder of The C12 Group, LLC - Christian CEO and mentor. Buck has an extensive background in successful organizational development based on the principles found in scripture. The motto of the C12 group is "Building great companies for a greater purpose." 
Another “Buckism” hits the heart! Thanks!