A Moment With Pastor Fred

Susan and I noticed a church sign that read – Comparison Ruins Contentment.

Warning: What will you get for Christmas this year? Not what you want? Others will get more? Comparison ruins contentment. Scripture speaks about contentment. Phil 4:11 … for I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. A friend asked Abraham Lincoln, “What’s wrong with your boys?” The children and Mr. Lincoln were taking a walk down a street in Springfield one day. Obviously, the boys were having an argument – one was crying. Lincoln, known for his quick wit said, “The same thing that is wrong with the whole world! I have three walnuts in my pocket and each boy wants two.”   

How can we be content? First, contentment is learned. Paul says this again in Phil 2:12, I have learned the secret of being content. Contentment doesn’t come naturally. We have to learn it. We don’t learn it in days of prosperity but in life’s trials. Paul was in prison writing to those who were free about being content! Contentment is independent of circumstances – it’s independent of wealth or poverty; good circumstances or bad circumstances; happiness or sadness. How can this be? Because contentment only comes through Christ. We are sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; a reliance on him to meet our needs.   

This coming year may each of us seek such biblical contentment. Let us reject unmet expectations – resist comparison and rest in the sufficiency found only in Jesus.