s20070729m_Learning To Be Content

LEARNING TO BE CONTENT

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything t hat belongs to your neighbor. Ex 20:17

"TO COVET": The [UNCONTROLLED] Desire To Acquire

THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF WANTING MORE

10Whoever loves money (A)never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is (B)never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 11As goods increase, (C)so do those who consume them. And what (D)benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? 12The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a (E)rich man permits him no sleep. 13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner. Ecc 5:10-13

A. [DEBT]          B. [DISSATISFACTION]          C. [CONFLICT]          D. [FRUSTRATION]         E. [FATIGUE]

HOW I CAN LEARN CONTENTMENT

1.      I NEED TO [RESIST] COMPARING MYSELF TO OTHERS.

2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load. Galatians 6:2-5

2. I NEED TO [REJOICE] IN WHAT I DO HAVE.

18Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. 19Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. Ecclesiastes 5:18-19

3. I NEED TO [RELEASE] WHAT I HAVE TO HELP OTHERS.

32“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’  Acts 20:32-35

4.I NEED TO [REFOCUS] ON WHAT'S GOING TO LAST.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15