May 2nd, 2021: Contentment

 


There are many reasons that we don't truly like the whole lockdown experience. Some of them are economic ones because it hurts many small business folks. Some people would say that it infringes our freedom and violates our rights. Some might have concerns about our governments' abuse of power. All of them have their own merits.


I would like us to consider something completely different. It has to do with our inability to be content. We as a society have kept ourselves very busy, and one of the reasons for that is our inability to find contentment. We need to go places, do things, and be involved with activities because we might not know what to do with ourselves. Our inability to acknowledge and accept who we are might be a source of our struggles with contentment.


What have we discovered lately about our culture? The absence of gratefulness is what we have seen. That is one of the by-products of not being content. Envy and complaint dominate our human interaction. Ungrateful people tend to play the role of victims at times.


We then get confused between what we have and who we are. We will be healthier if we learn how to manage what we have and to grow into whom God desires us to be. When complaints become the focus of our conversations with one another, we feel trapped.


So let us ponder on how we deal with the lack of contentment during this lockdown period. No one has the power to take away our freedom if we are content with God, ourselves and one another. Our contentment will be a manifestation of God's love. Regardless of what is going on on the outside, we will be at peace.


Philippians 4:11-13: "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

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