Discontentment – Ammunition for the Enemy

What or who is it that determines your needs? What is it that motivates you to get up every day?

Paul said in Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” This is what life was all about to the apostles. Up to the day that Jesus appeared in their lives they had need for all kinds of carnal things to satisfy them, but that day when they’ve met Jesus and have seen Him making a difference in the lives of people, they wanted nothing else but to be like Jesus. Have you met Jesus in such a way?

We were told to receive the Kingdom like a child (Mark 10:15). If parents raise a child wisely, she will be content with what her parents decide for her. All a little child needs is food, love, a home and the opportunity to please her parents. Isn’t that all a Christian needs as well in relation to God?
Paul told Timothy: “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:6-10).”

Yes, I know the argument about the ‘love of money and not money itself’, but the question is what love of money is? An extremely poor man continuously wish he had money, a middle class person would have liked to have a better car or whatever and a rich person’s life revolves around money. Therefore, if we are concerned about money in any way apart from our basic needs, we love it and it will open the door for us to be hindered to be everything God intended for us to be. But we don’t only get discontented because of money.

Where are our thoughts? What keeps us busy? When the going gets tough, where do we go for help? If we’re focused on Kingdom issues, being busy obeying the Lord, we’ll be content with what He brings our way. When He thinks certain issues need to be sorted out in our lives and turns up the heat, are we content or do we complain and reach out to the comfort of worldliness and money. The World lives entirely to please the physical, the flesh (Matthew 6:32), but we are not of this world. We should be content with what the Lord brings our way for the sake of accomplishing His purposes and plans (Matthew 6:33).

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The devil’s greatest desire is for us to fail and if he can manage to keep our thoughts away from God’s will and busy with all kinds of discontentment, he has succeeded in making us ineffective to God.

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5).”