READ: PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13
Paul said I have learned to be content in any and all circumstances.
Are you content today? My experience is we have learned how to
be stressed, depressed, overwhelmed, how to have a come-apart,
and how to be discontent. One of the secrets of learning how to be
content is to avoid self-pity. Have you ever had a pity party, a bad
case of the woe-is-me? We all know life is difficult. You get skinned
up and sometimes feel like you are getting the short end of the stick
and that life is unfair and you are being singled out for misery. If we
can’t get anyone else to feel sorry for us, we will just sit and feel sorry for ourselves. We all sit at the table of self-pity some, but you cannot afford to stay there for long. Self-pity will drag you down into the depths of despair and choke the life out of you. One of the great gifts that God has given us is the gift of choice. You can’t always choose your circumstances, but you do get to choose your attitude and your response. You can choose to feel sorry for yourself and whine your life away, or you can choose joy. Paul said, “I am in prison but I am content.” He didn’t choose self-pity. He chose to live for Christ and discovered that, in choosing to live for Christ, he was choosing contentment and he could say that, when he had Christ, he had all that he needed. If you are discontent today, turn your eyes to Jesus. He is the source of contentment.
– Dr. Tim Thompson