“What we have and who we are is enough:” Finding Contentment

So, I think I uncovered another Secret. I know there are many that we will discover throughout our Christian lives, but this is a biggie.  Paul describes the secret in Philippians 4:11-13 “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Early on in my Christian life, I thought that I would be happy once I got married.  I thought that having a husband would make me feel content, stable, full.  After being married almost two decades, I have found that I was wrong.  Marriage is a beautiful crucible, a refining fire that God uses to grow us, but it is not the end all.  It does not bring contentment.  I have my own Secret 13, so do you!  My secret comes from Ruth Soukup’s book, Living Well, Spending Less.  For many years now, I have been working on Contentment.  One of my life motto’s is:  Choose Joy.  In the first chapter of her book, Ruth shares the idea that “what we have and who we are is enough.”  I love this statement for many reasons. I think that knowing this secret, that what we have (Jesus), and who we are (God’s children) is especially meaningful when life throws us curveballs.

Knowing Christ, and who I am in Him, makes me strong.  The strength that I have, though, is not my own.  It is entirely His.  It is His life in me.

Through finding my contentment in Jesus, He has taught me to live for an audience of one, to let go of expectations I put on other people to make me happy, and to find all I need in my relationship with Jesus.

In spite of desperate circumstances, having my brother in prison, losing a close friendship this year, feeling the pressures of homeschooling, parenting, keeping house, teaching, caring for for aging parents, and helping struggling friends, I have found contentment in Jesus alone.  He has taught me that nothing else can bring contentment.  Not another person, house, car, clothes, or good hair.  Only Jesus can bring contentment this side of heaven.

Finding my contentment in Jesus has enabled me to truly love.  I can give and help and bless without expecting any return, and I am content.

I can say like Paul, that weather in plenty or in want…I will learn to be content, because I have JESUS in me!  He is completely satisfying.  His love is unending and never failing.  He is always faithful and will persevere with me, to make me holy, beautiful and righteous in His time.

This blog post was written for a contest:  Secret 13.  This is my secret 13 story.

Living Well Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life shares 12 concrete strategies for seeking—and finding—the Good Life in our day to day lives. Even so, a life well lived is not so much about what we have as who we are, and ultimately each one of us holds the key to our own secrets.