Contentment
In the same year that the world was focusing on the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, a man died named Viktor Frankl. During World War II, Dr. Frankl had gone from being a medical doctor to working as a common laborer in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Despite his father, mother, brother and wife all dying in the concentration camp and his losing the notes from his life work, Frankl was able to make this incredible statement upon emerging from Auschwitz, "Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the freedom to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances." We might brush those words off if the speaker was someone who had never had to experience life's hardships but when someone like Frankl speaks, it's worthy of note. We may not be able to choose our circumstances, but we can choose our attitude toward them.
Paul was getting at one of those attitudes, contentment, when he wrote in Philippians 4:12, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation". Isn't it encouraging that being content, being satisfied with what we have and being grateful for it, didn't come natural to someone as great as Paul; even he had to learn that aspect of a right attitude. We often learn contentment by wanting something so badly that we get all upset about it only to realize, when it's finally ours, that it doesn't satisfy us. And so we learn not to place too great an importance on material goods and attainments.
Paul went on to write to Timothy "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Why did Paul call it great gain? It's because the real benefit of contentment is the freedom it brings us. Contentment allows us to focus on what really matters instead of spinning our wheels needlessly on what is God's concern, caring and providing for each one of us. Instead of it being just one more attitude that we have to work on, contentment is really a blessing that allows us to pursue the things that really matter in life.
This is the first of a weekly devotion to be sent out. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church
