The next few posts will be on gratitude and how to cultivate within ourselves and our families. Admittedly, I have a hard time expressing gratitude and being content with life. I this series will help me, too. These posts are from an essay by Julie Lowe from CCEF. She sets out with two thoughts:
First, our society cultivates discontentment. Consistently, we hear a message of want. Mass media, advertising, and holiday seasons all capitalize on the misconception of necessity and the hungering for more. There are quite literally thousands of images, commercials, and marketing ploys that are meant to create a sense of need. I “need” this new phone to be satisfied, or this new product to be fulfilled. Advertising develops a feeling of deficiency within us. It seeks to convince us that without the latest beauty product, invention or gadget, we are lacking. In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul rebuffs this message by challenging us to be content in any circumstance—in plenty or in want.
Second, discontentment is easily triggered in us because we have an underlying sense of entitlement. We believe that we are inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. I deserve that new electronic device, or that vacation, or peace and quiet when I come home after working all day. Entitlement justifies whatever self-focused response pours out of my mouth or actions. Entitled desires quickly become demands that excuse putting myself first and the needs of others last (if at all). These things, no matter how much I desire them, are not innate human rights but wants that have risen to a level of necessity in our hearts and minds. In contrast, Scripture tells us that our goal is not to look for what we deserve but to be poured out as an offering to others (Philippians 2:17). We are to “walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2).
Recall yesterday's Bible verse. Putting off discontentment requires us to put others first.
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