Complaining to Contentment: Part 3 - Now What?

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
~I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

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Introduction

The Lord has done work to show us our complaining hearts and how easily we can give in to the temptation to complain, rather than to realize what we as sinners really deserve (God’s wrath and Hell), how blessed we as Christians truly are (to have received His grace and mercy), and to use true Biblical strength to practice gratefulness and cultivate contentment.

Ask the Why Questions

Now that we have looked at these things, what are we to do now? How are we to apply? How do we become a more grateful people on a daily basis? Well, I am no expert, but here are a few things that I need to practice and that indeed help put my focus and pull my practice in the right direction. But before getting to these few thoughts on how to cultivate Godly contentment, we need, as in everything, to ask the why questions. Why desire contentment in God and His ways? Why desire to live life in gratefulness? Because we have been created to glorify God by delighting in Him! He, and only He, is worthy of all glory, honor, praise, and to be delighted in! Only He has lived as a man, died, rose, and ascended to bring us salvation for justification and once-for-all forgiveness and the Holy Spirit by Whose work alone are we able to do our work in this sanctification process to cultivate any Godly characteristic, including Godly contentment.

So, be intentional to think upon, ask, and answer the why questions in pursuit of any fruit of the Spirit and all growth. Now we can move on to a few of endless ways to cultivate contentment, but a ways that prove essential:

1. Begin With the Gospel



Always! The Gospel is indispensable and we cannot do without it. Do only unbelievers need to hear the Gospel? Absolutely not. We as Christians need it as much as we always have! Why do we complain? Is it not because we easily forget the Gospel? I am not saying that we literally declare the Gospel is untrue with our mouths, but do we not do this with our thoughts and in our complaining? How easily we do forget the Gospel and how much we have received. We have received God’s Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He paid the debt we could never pay! Praise God, we are free! How much harder, then, if we make a practice of preaching the Gospel to ourselves every day, will it be to complain? How can we complain in light of God’s mysterious mercy on our souls?

2. Practice the Spiritual Disciplines



I cannot emphasize this enough! The absolute best place to begin your day is in stillness before God in prayer, and in reading, studying, and meditating on His Word. This is one of the best places to apply point one above. Begin your day with the Gospel in God’s Word! Pray for the strength to cultivate Godly contentment in the day you are about to live. Remeber, you are not earning anything from God in doing this, but committing yourself to, in faith, acknowledge your complete dependence on God to even think about growing. Jesus has paid the way in full for you to now live as a Christian in grace.

3. Commit to a Local Church



I cannot emphasize this enough! How can any Christian expect to grow apart from God’s divinely ordained church, the body of sinners and believers for which He died? Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 13 is full of ways to cultivate the gifts of the Spirit to other believers. It is in the context of constant feeding from the proclamation of God’s Word, worship to God, and serving others that we truly learn to be a thankful and content people.

4. Be Accountable



“And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Find two or three other people or persons (of the same sex!) that you trust and with whom you can share each other’s struggles—someone whom you can challenge and someone you know will challenge you with Biblical truth. If someone is regularly asking you the difficult and challenging questions about life and your struggles, you’re headed for growth. Don’t try and do it all on your own. Put down your pride and grow with one another!

These are just a few ideas for how to apply thankfulness and cultivate contentment. But really: These things apply to any area of needed growth! Isn’t that great? Be free to be holy, and may you grow as “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

God bless you, my friends!

Franz Schneider

P.S. In fact, let's hear from you! Why and how do you cultivate Godly contentment?

This article was expanded on February 5, 2007.