Philippians 4:11-13
New King James Version (NKJV)
"11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
This scripture was the central scripture of today's sermon at church. Even though I've heard it a million times, it really struck a chord with me today. It's amazing how different scriptures will do that at different times in our lives.
I started thinking about what this scripture really means. Paul starts off by telling us that he has learned to content no matter where he is in life. Webster's lists one of the synonyms of being content as being satisfied. So does that mean that we are satisfied with our lives to the point that we never try to better ourselves? Does God want us to go hungry and to do without our basic needs? I don't even remotely think that this was the point Paul was trying to make. I believe that he was trying to explain that no matter where he finds himself in life. Whether it be on the side of the road or in a beautiful palace, his contentment, his peace, his happiness comes from Jesus Christ.
We live in a "me, me, me" society. We compete. We want more. We want bigger houses, better vacations, nicer furniture, better cars. And you know, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting nice things. But when those nice things cause us to live outside our means and become our "god" instead of the one true God, when they cause stress in our marriages and our bank accounts, then we are living in discontentment.
The other side of the coin is when we have more than enough. I also think our culture has big problems with "having much" gracefully. So many times we either want more, more, more and are greedy and selfish, or we want to be sure that we flaunt what we have. We want to "show" everyone who has ever gotten on our "bad side". We don't know "how to abound" gracefully.
I think that the reason this verse really struck a chord is because God has been dealing with me in this area. I have been guilty of looking around my home, my yard, my closet . . . and being discontent. And while I always make sure the bills get paid first, I've also been guilty of cutting too close at times. On the other hand, I've also been guilty of flaunting my blessings. And I'm not proud of that. God has blessed us greatly, and He alone gets the credit for that. There's a fine line between being proud of what God has done, and becoming "puffed up with pride". Unfortunately, I've crossed that line more times than I'd like to count.
The bottom line is, we all have dreams and there's nothing wrong with having and wanting nice things. God wants us to dream. He created us to dream. But our contentment doesn't lie in those dreams, it doesn't lie in our things, it lies in Jesus Christ because He is the one who truly gives us strength.
This scripture was the central scripture of today's sermon at church. Even though I've heard it a million times, it really struck a chord with me today. It's amazing how different scriptures will do that at different times in our lives.
I started thinking about what this scripture really means. Paul starts off by telling us that he has learned to content no matter where he is in life. Webster's lists one of the synonyms of being content as being satisfied. So does that mean that we are satisfied with our lives to the point that we never try to better ourselves? Does God want us to go hungry and to do without our basic needs? I don't even remotely think that this was the point Paul was trying to make. I believe that he was trying to explain that no matter where he finds himself in life. Whether it be on the side of the road or in a beautiful palace, his contentment, his peace, his happiness comes from Jesus Christ.
We live in a "me, me, me" society. We compete. We want more. We want bigger houses, better vacations, nicer furniture, better cars. And you know, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting nice things. But when those nice things cause us to live outside our means and become our "god" instead of the one true God, when they cause stress in our marriages and our bank accounts, then we are living in discontentment.
The other side of the coin is when we have more than enough. I also think our culture has big problems with "having much" gracefully. So many times we either want more, more, more and are greedy and selfish, or we want to be sure that we flaunt what we have. We want to "show" everyone who has ever gotten on our "bad side". We don't know "how to abound" gracefully.
I think that the reason this verse really struck a chord is because God has been dealing with me in this area. I have been guilty of looking around my home, my yard, my closet . . . and being discontent. And while I always make sure the bills get paid first, I've also been guilty of cutting too close at times. On the other hand, I've also been guilty of flaunting my blessings. And I'm not proud of that. God has blessed us greatly, and He alone gets the credit for that. There's a fine line between being proud of what God has done, and becoming "puffed up with pride". Unfortunately, I've crossed that line more times than I'd like to count.
The bottom line is, we all have dreams and there's nothing wrong with having and wanting nice things. God wants us to dream. He created us to dream. But our contentment doesn't lie in those dreams, it doesn't lie in our things, it lies in Jesus Christ because He is the one who truly gives us strength.
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