Genuine Contentment

1 Tim. 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Contentment has always been one of my biggest struggles. The Holy Spirit within strives against my flesh in a battle for my desires. I know I should be satisfied with my life, but my flesh only wishes for that which I do not possess. For instance, when my husband was longing to pastor a church, it was very hard to be happy for a friend who had just taken a church. When a woman is barren, it is very difficult for her to be happy for another lady who is expecting. We can all fake a smile and a kind word to someone’s face, but to be sincerely happy for them is much harder to do. It’s a matter of the heart.

The Lord looks on the heart. He knows when we are honest in our words, or when we are just “putting on” for others. When I finally became content with the place we were living and the job we were doing, the Lord began opening doors that had once been sealed shut. Perhaps He saw that the state of my heart had caught up with my words.

To be content, I have to surrender my will to my Father. I can no longer seek to fulfill my own agenda, but I must desire to live up to His. I also count my blessings daily, sometimes hourly! This helps me to see that the Lord is, indeed, very good to me even though my desires are sometimes unfulfilled. I have learned, and am still learning, to be genuinely content. 

Valerie-The Bishop's Wife

How to Stop Complaining

Opening Days at Heartland Baptist Bible College are in session, and the first few days of the semester are devoted to preaching. One of the most incredible messages this week was about the sin of complaining. The children of Israel would whine and complain about everything, which kindled God's anger. I had always known that complaining wasn't "good," but I never thought of it as "bad" until I looked a little closer and saw that God considered it a serious sin. Complaining is so evil in God's sight that He sent fire from Heaven to burn up the whiners!

Seeing how wicked complaining is made me want more than ever to watch what comes out of my mouth. However, it's difficult to put a finger on how exactly to stop complaining. The preacher mentioned how people who don't complain generally have a healthy prayer life. Although this puzzled at me at first, I thought about it for a minute and realized that he was right.

David often spoke in the Psalms of pouring out his comlpaint before the Lord. In my own life, I think back to times I would cry out to God about how fet up I was about a situation. After a few minutes of going on and on about it, I would start to feel kind of silly. My whining soon turned into praying for that very situation. Instead of huffing and puffing to your friends about the unfairness of life, tell God how you feel. Cast all your care upon Him, and if you allow Him to speak back to you, He will begin changing your heart about the thing that used to look like such a big deal. Complain to God and you'll get it out of your system and have a new attitude, so you won't have a need to complain to anyone else.

If you decide to adopt this principle into your prayer life, don't stop at just whining to God and saying "amen." Read His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and change the way you think. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Your attitude will improve, your relationship with God will flourish, and the petty things that used to bother you won't seem that important anymore.