Contentment
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Hey all, it’s good to be back with you tonight. If you’re new with us, my name is Cody...
Typical greeting stuff
Alright, well we have been going through the book of Philippians this semester…and tonight…we are coming close to the end. Tonight we are hitting our second to last message in Philippians, with the final one to come next week.
But, for now, let’s get to the message at hand. Go ahead and turn in your bibles to Philippians, Chapter 4. We are going to be starting in just a few verses tonight. We will read 10-13, but won’t get to verse 10 until next week. Instead, we will mainly be focusing on verse 11-13.
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Tonight, I’m calling this message Contentment.
Title Slide
Simple title…for a simple concept.
Well…it seems like a simple concept right? And the main point for tonight seems like a straightforward main point. Here it is…the main point for tonight is..
Be Content in Christ (11-13)
Be content in Christ. I told you…it’s a straightforward point and if we are being honest…it’s an obvious point right?
And you know what? Our first subpoint is also pretty obvious.
In every season.
Be content in Christ, in every season. The reason these are obvious points is because this so plainly seen in the text. Look back at the verses with me. If you’re looking at them you see that Paul sets us up to understand that we are to be content in every season. I mean he’s talking about being in need…being hungry…and yet he’s also talking about times he’s abounding and has plenty...And what Paul is modeling here…is that it doesn’t matter what situation he finds himself in, whether it’s hunger and need, or abundance and plenty…it doesn’t matter what situation he is in because his response is the same. His response to all situations is contentment.
And if mentioning sort of the two seasons you can be in isn’t enough…he just straight up comes and says he has learned to be content in WHATEVER SITUATION (there in verse 11)....and then in verse 12 he says in ANY AND EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE.
So…I don’t feel like the point of this message is hard to see tonight. I don’t feel like I have to convince you that this should be the topic tonight.
It’s not hard to see in the text and it’s not hard for you to write it down in the margin of your bible or in your notebook.
But you know what…it’s actually a really difficult thing for us to live out.
And if you’ve been here for any length of time...you know me well enough to know that what I want for us…is for the word of God to bear on our souls and change our lives. I want for us to not just learn something about what God says…but to actually respond to what God says.
So..let’s commit together…right now..since the main point is so obvious and we’ve already identified it…let’s commit right now to spend some more time coming to a deeper understanding of this point. Can we do that?
If you can, join me in prayer.
***PRAY***
Great.
So here’s what I want to do…Three things.
1) I want to take some time tonight and understand what exactly contentment means.
2) I want to address something that’s been robbing many of you of contentment for far too long.
3) I want to direct you towards the source of true contentment.
Let me out line that again.
Sound good?
Here’s the first thing you need to know about contentment.
What to know about contentment:
- To be content is to be in a state of satisfaction or peaceful happiness.
A state of feeling like your needs are met, that the things being given to you are sufficient and satisfying. To live a life of contentment is to live a life of satisfaction with what you’ve been given or where you are.
It’s about right here that most of you should start feeling uncomfortable. Because the Holy Spirit is pressing on you, the places in your life that contentment is not found. And for good reason…because.
Here’s the second thing you need to know about contentment.
- You are called to it.
You are called to it. This isn’t just Paul being Paul…this is something that you, as a follower of Christ, are called to. You are called to be satisfied in all that you’ve been given. Here’s just a couple scriptures for you.
Scripture
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,
Scripture
5 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.”
I think this is a felt a need. Meaning, I think that when I mention this…you feel it. You feel the areas of your life that are lacking in contentment.
Those areas that you might feel a lack of contentment will include, money....relationship status....friendship dynamics...career status....body image....
Those are just a few of the places in which we are often are unsatisfied with what we’ve been given or what we have to work with.
And make no mistake about it…being ungrateful or unsatisfied with what the Lord has given you…is sin. Because it is either a diminishing of God’s character or provision in your life and elevation of the world..it’s a love of the world more than a love for God…or it is just a straight up mistrust in God’s plan. Either way…it ends up being sin in your life.
A lack of contentment in your life is sin. And when you encourage a lack of contentment in your life…you are encouraging sin.
And may I remind you, what scripture says to do with sin.
Scripture Slide
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
So…we’re called to lay aside our sin and run the race God has given us:
I’ve just identified, using God’s word, how our lack of contentment is sin…so here’s what you need to do if you don’t want this sin in your life…and you want contentment....
What you need for contentment:
- Repentance of discontentment.
Before we get any further…you need to admit the areas of your life that you are not satisfied in God…not satisfied with what you have and you’re yearning, and struggling, and fighting for more.
If you don’t know what repentance is…it’s a confession to God and a commitment to turn away from it. That’s what you need to do with the areas you are discontent...
You need to identify them…and turn away from them. When you’re feeling discontent you need to identify it and say “nope…not today satan” and turn it to God.
But…that’s not the only thing God’s word says to do. Not only does this hebrews passage say to lay aside every sin…but also to lay aside every weight. That brings me to our next point.
- Protection from discontentment.
This has been on my mind a lot…and I’ve preached this before when we were in Hebrews..but it keeps coming back to me.
I heard an illustration about this passage that’s better than anything I’ve preached on it…and it’s this.
When this hebrews passage says sin... that’s the obvious one. We can identify what that is.
Weight, what is that? Well, the best way to think about it are the things in your life that aren’t sin…but they’re stupid.
Like, what are you doing in your life right now that isn’t sinful but it’s stupid for you to do?
The illustration I heard was an elite marathon runner...
It’s not illegal for him or her to wear jeans while competing…but it’s stupid. It’s an unnecessary weight that hinders their race.
That’s why I say to protect yourself from discontentment…because I’m saying to cast off the weights…the things that are stupid…the things that cause you to sin…or the things you turn to in your sin…the things that can cause you to stumble.
And it’s right here…that I want to take the next few minutes to address one of the greatest weights of our generations…
It’s a super dangerous weight…because it’s something we run to when we are already feeling discontent…but it’s also something that can suck us into discontentment so easily....
And I want to bring it up to you tonight because my heart breaks every time this weight causes our group to stumble…my heart breaks every time I see Satan use this weight for evil.
Some of you are expecting it…but some of you are like what is he talking about. Here it is...If you struggle with contentment, whether it’s having it…or keeping it…then I want to impress on you that Social Media is most likely a weight for you. Meaning it may not be sin for you to be on it... but it could be stupid for you.. because it’s leading you to sin…or it’s going to feed the sin you’re already struggling with. And their are lots of sins that social media can feed…everything from pornography to hate…but the reason I want to bring it up in this message…is because I think we don’t realize just how much social media feeds and fuels our discontentment.
Because what’s true is that most of us are not opening insta, or facebook, or snap, or tiktok, or even bereal from a place of already being content. Most of us are not sitting there, in complete satisfaction with where the Lord has us…and are then opening up social media.
In fact, it’s usually the opposite right?
Like you’re not content with what you’re doing doing at the moment…you’re bored, you don’t like the fact you’re alone or that your friends are somewhere else or with someone else…you don’t like the job you’re currently working…those thoughts are going on so what does your body and mind naturally do?
Open the phone. And seek contentment.
But the problem is…contentment is almost never what we are going to find there.
What we are going to find are either things that numb our brain so we forget our desire for true contentment…things that make us laugh and pacify us…or we we find things that increase our lack of contentment through comparison and coveting.
You see, social media has a way of feeding our discontentment…or revealing our discontentment. Let me say that again.
Social media has a way of feeding our discontentment…or revealing our discontentment.
I wanna give you a few examples...
You’re going along…at peace, maybe you’re at home before bed…get on your phone…and you see something that makes us want the newest Stanley instead of the one you already have…and all the sudden you’re discontent with what you have. Or maybe you are with a friend, or family, or home alone and you’re just chilling enjoying the night…and you get on socials…or snap map…or BeReal…and you see a group of people hanging out together…and you wish you were with them but you weren’t invited or weren’t there at the right time when the group decided to get together…or maybe you got on snap map because you were already discontent with not hanging with your friends and seeing them hanging without you just drives that stake of discontentment further in your heart.
You’re on insta and you’re following celebrities and old friends and you see people that look better than you, that are doing cooler things than you, that have more money than you…that seem happier than you..
We get jealous, because we don’t have what they have…we get sad, because we don’t have what they have…or, we get inspired, to do something because we see it on insta or snap or tiktok or youtube and so we get it in our mind that if we do that thing, if we purchase that product, if we live that life, if we hang out with those specific people we too could be satisfied and content.
But guys…it’s a lie.
Let’s relate it to our text.
If you’re in a moment of need, and hunger, and you are low…then the likelihood is all you’re going to find on social media...are things that make you more needy, more hungry…that bring you down lower and remind you of what you don’t have and what you THINK you need.
And...
If you’re in a moment of abundance, and plenty, you are abounding…all you’re doing when you get on social media is opening yourself up to the opportunity to be reminded of something you don’t have. Opening yourself up to opportunity for discontentment.
Did you know that every single time you swipe your phone with social media, you are releasing dopamine into your mind. You are releasing a chemical into your brain that gets you excited about what you might see, what you might find. That’s why seeing the little notification bubble pop up gets you excited to check it…or antsy.
Social media is literally designed to get you to anticipate what you might see…and excited for what you might see.
And you see, the greatest reason it’s so popular is the greatest reason it is so dangerous for us…because we can’t control what we are about to see. That’s what’s exciting…but for us that know the reality of sin…it’s dangerous. We can only control what happens after we see it. And guys…if you struggle with having a good and godly response to temptation…if you already struggle with maintaining contentment when you see ads for things, or see things that create a fear of missing out…then how are you possibly protecting yourself from discontentment by being on social media.
You know, it’s so obvious in other sins. If you struggle with porn…avoid going on sites or watching movies that might cause you to lust and be tempted.
If you struggle with alcoholism…don’t spend your time in a bar.
And yet…we don’t take this stance with social media.
If you struggle with discontentment...How are you possibly laying aside the weight of discontentment if you set yourself up for failure every time you open your phone.
And that’s just discontentment…that’s not to mention lust, pornography, comparison, enjoy, and so many more things.
Look, I know there are things you could come back at me with. Like you’re on it to make a difference…you’re on it to be a light…you’re on it to know what’s going on in people’s lives...
Yeah, I get it. We can justify our way out of anything. But my question back to you is this...
Can you promise me that that’s the true conviction of your heart every time you open up that app. Or just some of the times.
As we move on..let me be clear…as much as it may sound like it…I’m not preaching that Social Media is evil. I’m not preaching that it’s a sin to have it...
But I am preaching that it’s something we often abuse…or something that we often let abuse us as children of God.
I am preaching that for many of us…and for more than would care to admit it in this room…it’s not sin…but it might be stupid. Because it causes us to sin…and feeds our sin…and if we are being honest…a lot more bad, a lot more discontentment comes from it…than the opposite.
There are ways to win against social media…ways to champion it for Christ, I’m not denying that. But I am trying to point out…that that’s not the reality for most of us. That the reality for most of us is that we are being won over to the world and the emotions and desires from this world, than we are being won over to Christ.
I’m your pastor. and I love you. And I love you enough to say that some of you need to re-evaluate the things you let speak into your life. Alright?
So, I’ve talked a lot about discontentment…and how we struggle with it…and how we aren’t helping ourselves…but that’s not where this story ends…because this scripture isn’t about being discontent in Christ...
It’s about being content in Christ. And I want to focus on that…I want to focus on IN CHRIST. Because if you look back at the text…Paul says..
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
The context is that Paul is talking about contentment…about being content…being satisfied…no matter if he’s hungry or full. No matter if he’s in need or if he’s abounding. And the context is truly set up by verse 12.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
Guys…if this was one of those moments where I had my pen out and was drawing circles around words for you…I would circle “the secret” in verse 12, and I would circle the word “him” in verse 13…and I would connect them together. Because what Paul is saying is that the literal secret to being content…the secret sauce to being content…is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ
“I can do all things” means “I can endure all things” or “I am able to put up with with anything” THROUGH…don’t miss that word…THROUGH…him who strengthens me. It doesn’t mean I am capable of anything…like many of you can’t go be an astronaut simply because you know Jesus…however…those of that would become astronauts could do it in the strength that Jesus supplies.
And this secret, guys…is found all over scripture.
I could bring you to dozens of places to prove to you that Christ is the reason for contentment…he is the cause for contentment…but I want to bring you to just one. An amazing one. And I want you all to turn there...
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Or if you have the CSB it says this.
1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.
What does that mean?
It means..Because the Lord is my Shepherd…because Jesus guides my life…because I’m one of his sheep and I belong to him as the good Shepherd…because of that...
I. Am. Satisfied. I. Am. Content.
If we want to understand what it means to have contentment in our lives…what it means to be satisfied with where God has put us …what he has given us…and the people he has surrounded us with…if we want to learn to be content, then we must deepen our love and understanding of the Good Shepherd.
To the extent in which we allow him to be our shepherd…to the extent in which we seek him for all that we need…is the extent in which we are content.
The LORD, is my shepherd. I Shall Not Want.
The LORD is my shepherd. I Shall Be Content.
The LORD is my shepherd. I Shall be Satisfied.
It would be wrong of me…to spend time challenging you not to seek contentment from social media…without also telling you of how to seek contentment from Christ.
There’s many things I could say…but I want to stress one tonight as we wrap up.
And this is your biggest point of application.
Get alone with Christ.
Don’t get me wrong, there is so much to be said about Christian Community…and how it’s a vital discipline of the Christian life…but, when it comes to Christ being your shepherd…your personal lord and savior…it has to start with you…and you alone.
David, Daniel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus himself, Paul....they all knew the value of community…but each and every single one of them has stories where they were isolated, put alone without anyone to help them…and yet they endured…and were content…and why is that? Because they knew how to be alone with the Lord. They knew how to depend upon him before they depended upon anything else.
If you’ve been to our 3C retreats…almost every single person that comes says their favorite time was our time of silence and solitude? Why? Because they were alone with the Lord. And. they. loved it.
Because he is the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep. Who loves his sheep. He tends to his sheep. And the minute you can get alone with God…man watch out. Because once you fight past the awkwardness and distractions…which are not of God....once you push past those…it’s nothing but time with your Good Shepherd....teaching you how not to want anything but him. Teaching you how to be satisfied in him.
And when I say alone… I mean truly alone. You see one of the greatest of all dangers with our phone…or especially with social media…is that it is the opposite of being alone with God.
In fact, for most of us…getting on our phone is the escape from being alone. It’s the escape from isolation. For most of us, getting on our phones is what we do so we don’t have to face silence…so we don’t have to be in solitude. But you know what, Solitude is Good.
You see…solitude is amazing for the Christian. Solitude is a state of being alone. It’s the fortress that no one can get in except you and God.
Solitude is good.
Isolation…is detrimental to the Christian.
Solitude is being alone and thinking about and being with God.
Isolation is being alone and thinking about the fact that you’re alone and apart from others.
If there’s one thing I can tell you on how to be content…if there is just one practice that I would encourage you to put in to place right now…it’s to find times of daily solitude with Christ. Find times of daily establishing him as the Good Shepherd of your life.
Find the times where you can grab your bible…read it…and not just read it…but engage with it. Pray. Seek. Find.
Find the truths about what God has to say about your life. Rest in the promises of what he’s done and what he’s doing.
If you want to talk about protecting yourself from discontentment, there’s no better way than to be content in Jesus.
Someone who has spent time with God and is resting in the contentment of the Lord is like a knight in full armor preparing for battle when they open themselves to the world.
Someone who hasn’t spend time with their shepherd is like a naked man running across hot coals while trying to dodge a barrage of arrows. Yeah, he might not get hit…he might make it…but it’s stupid that he tried.
So what are you doing? Which one are you
Be A Partner in the Gospel (10, 14-19)
-For the long-haul (v.10)
-Despite everyone else (v.14-16)
-By giving generously (v.17-18)
-Knowing the reward (v.19)
