Contentment (10) Treasure

Part of a ten-part series on contentment by Jean Williams A man was walking across a cow pasture when his foot hit something. He bent over, rubbed his aching toe, and noticed the corner of a box sticking out of the ground. Curious, he grabbed a stick, dug away the dirt, and opened the lid. His heart thumped as he reached in and felt the solid weight of gold. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then covered the box with chunks of turf. He went home and sold everything he had, from the coat on his back...

Jean Williams

Contentment (9) Godly discontent

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Contentment (8) Getting practical

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Contentment (7) Significance

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Contentment (6) Security

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Contentment (5) Satisfaction

Jean Williams

Part of a ten-part series on contentment by Jean Williams What brings you joy? What gives you satisfaction? There’s nothing wrong with enjoying God’s good gifts, but how can you tell when a good thing becomes a God-thing? How do you know when you’re looking to something or someone else for contentment, rather than to God? One way we can tell is to ask ourselves: what happens when we lose something we value? How do we react when our friend gets the job we applied for, our quiet weekend gets disturbed, or we flush our new phone down the toilet?...

Contentment (5) Satisfaction

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Contentment (4) The Heart of Contentment

Jean Williams

Part of a ten-part series on contentment by Jean Williams I once heard an advertisement on the radio. It went like this (you’ll have to imagine the broad Aussie accent): I want the kids to go to good schools. I want great holidays in exotic places. I want a comfortable retirement for me and the missus. And you know what? I’m making it happen! I must admit I tuned out at that point, but my guess is he was advertising some kind of investment portfolio. Do you hear what this guy is saying? He’s convinced he needs three things to...

Contentment (4) The Heart of Contentment

Jean Williams

Contentment (3) What’s so Bad about Discontent?

Jean Williams

Part of a ten-part series on contentment by Jean Williams Last time we talked about how becoming content isn’t as simple as practising a set of techniques. You don’t get contentment by writing lists of your blessings (though that can be a helpful thing to do). You won’t become content by wearing a rubber band on your wrist and flicking it every time you complain (that’s one method I read about). And despite what your parents told you, you won’t be happy with brussels sprouts just because you remember people who are starving. Contentment requires change at the level of...

Contentment (3) What’s so Bad about Discontent?

Jean Williams

Contentment (2) The Secret

Jean Williams

Part of a ten-part series on contentment by Jean Williams I don’t know about you, but I’d love to feel content. I’d love to feel fulfilled. At peace. Like I’m not missing anything. I’d love to feel satisfied with my life. And that’s exactly what contentment means. If you look in a modern dictionary, it means “happy” or “satisfied”. The word usually translated “contentment” in the New Testament means “enough”, “sufficiency”, or even “self-sufficiency”. Contentment means to be satisfied with what we have. In his famous book , the Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs goes a little deeper. He says, Christian contentment...