Are you content with your life?

(1 Timothy 6:6-8 – Are you content with your life?)

So, here is a great question that we all need to consider. Are you content with your life?

This is actually a very important question, especially for Christians. It is evident that many people are not content with their life.

For many people life is all about striving. They want to be bigger, better, to have more and more stuff. In fact we used to call it “keeping up with the Joneses.” But today it has morphed into keeping up with the Kardashians! So, stop and spend a few moments to consider: are you content with your life? And if you are not, why and what will you do about it?

A worldly perspective on are you content with your life.

As mentioned, many if not most people are not content with their life. This is especially true in the western world.

The whole process of life in the western world is to sow seeds of discontentment. The focus of advertising and marketing is to show how you should NOT be content with what you have.

The subtle push on the emotions by marketers is to make you feel inferior. If you don’t have the latest car, the latest phone, the new technology, then somehow you must be inferior. If you don’t have these things, then you can’t be part of the “in-crowd” or the “it-crowd.”

Even those who are trying to good, such as environmentalists, push a message that sows discontent in people.

Western society in particular is focused on status and celebrity. And it’s not just about Hollywood or the music industry.

Academics strive for status and position. Business people strive for higher positions and status. People of all persuasions in life seek status symbols as proof that they have “made it.”

Whole industries have been established for the purpose of driving the message that if you don’t have what they offer, you are somehow inferior. Think about it. The fashion industry, the weight loss industry, the food industry, the exercise industry, and so many others. All of these are about having the “right” body, style, or look so that you have proof that you have “made it.”

What does it mean to have “Made It?”

The biggest problem with this philosophy of “bigger, better, and more,” is that no-one has defined what is “enough.”

When do you have “enough” health? What does “enough” fashion look like? How do you get “enough” of a certain look?

There is no way to define these things because “enough” is an intangible thing. It’s a bit like “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” And it’s a bit like the Saturday morning garage sale or yard sale. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

So, if we cannot define what is “enough,” how can a person know when they have “made it?”

The bottom line is they can’t. There is no standard against which you can measure when you or someone else has “made it.” You might look at someone and think that they have “made it,” but you don’t know what is going on in their lives.

I recall reading an article many years ago when Johnny Carson was the highest paid entertainer in America. He made the comment that the only thing having a lot of money did for him was that he didn’t have to worry about money. But he went through a couple of acrimonious divorces and suffered all of the consequences of those. His money did not help and in fact may have inflamed his situations as it would have been a point of contention in divorce settlements.

The destructiveness of striving

Striving for the things of this world is a destructive thing. You can never know when you have enough because there is no arbiter to identify “enough.”

What people tend to say is, “Well, I don’t know what it is, but I’ll know it when I see it!” And clearly they never see it because they keep on striving.

Striving endlessly sows discontent and striving will never answer th question: Are you content with your life? It cannot answer the question because striving is the antithesis of contentment.

And what is supposedly perfection is pushed at people every day in a thousand different ways. Women’s magazines show what the perfect woman or the perfect housewife should be doing and how they should look. And it’s utter rubbish!

Someone once said that there are only twelve women in the world who look like super-models, and they are the twelve who ARE those super-models. The rest of the women in the world cannot stack up to that standard. They cannot possible meet the standard of the super-model because they were not born with the genetic make up to look that way.

And why should they anyway? Who said the look of a super-model is the standard that women should aspire to? Personally I find the modelling industry to be elitist, aloof and cold. There is a falseness to those involved in the industry that is sickening because it says that every woman should look a certain way.

And that ideology has spawned a rash of other industries. Antidepressant production, stress relievers, cosmetic surgery, and rehab facilities for those who break under the strain.

Are you content with your life? Try Godliness!

So, what is the solution? How can we answer the question, are you content with your life, in a positive way?

The solution is to seek godliness in Jesus Christ. This is what the scripture tells us:

6 There is great gain in godliness with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; 8 but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

Godliness is the means by which we can end the striving for things that will hurt us, and find contentment.

When we look at the world through the lens of Christianity, we see differently. We understand that everything in this world is only temporary. Nothing lasts forever, so why push for things that will soon be gone.

Think about it. What is there on this world that lasts forever? Everything rusts, decays, rots, and breaks down, especially the creations of man. Look at all of the work a person might put into striving for the things of this world. They all pass away. Even the body decays and we all grow old and wrinkly eventually.

So, if nothing lasts you could ask the question, “why bother?” Why indeed.

We bother because there is one thing that is permanent and never decays, rots, or dies. And that is the love and the word of God that leads to eternity.

Godliness takes away the frustration of seeking “enough” when there is no definition of “enough.” This is because Jesus Christ is “enough” and He will lead us into eternity.

When we recognise that everything on earth will disappear eventually, then the point of striving disappears. As Christians we don’t care about the things of this world because we know they are meaningless.

We also know that all of the things we need in this life will be provided by God. He will not see His people begging in the streets but will provide for their needs.

You may not have clothes tailored by Chanel, or a Rolex watch, or drive a Lamborghini. But do you really need those things?

I have a second-hand jumper I paid five dollars for in an Op Shop and it is warm and comfortable. I have a watch that cost a couple hundred dollars (which for me was quite expensive), and it tells the time just as well as a $14,000 Rolex. And I drive a nine year old Toyota that is better than a Lamborghini because the Lamborghini can’t tow my caravan!

And I am content with all of these things and more because I know that knowing Christ is far better than anything this world has to offer. The Lord has provided me with all I need to live and to sustain the life He has me here for. He has provided the equipment I need to be able to do His work. And even though it isn’t the “latest and greatest” it more than satisfactorily does the job.

It is enough.

And because my focus is on Jesus and seeking His kingdom, I don’t worry about striving for the “stuff” of this world. It is far better to strive for godliness and the rewards it offers than to strive for the clutter of the world that is doomed to decay.

Finding Jesus and following Him is how to answer the question: Are you content with your life?

You might also like:

Hard For A Rich Man To Enter The Kingdom Of Heaven
Blessed Are The Poor
The Lord Provides
The Love Of Money Is The Root Of All Evil
Seek First the Kingdom of God and Other Teachings
Cleanse The Inside Of The Cup First
What Does It Profit To Gain The World And Forfeit Your Life
The Christian Value Proposition
Why The Buck Doesnt Stop Here
What Will It Cost You To Follow Christ
You Cannot Serve God And Mammon
Whoever Seeks To Gain His Life Will Lose It
A Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle
The Good Life
Greed Leads To Loss
Live As You Were Called
Pride Goes Before A Fall
Will You Be Recognised By God
Things That Make For Peace
Humility
It Isnt A Competition
Being Humble
Proclaim Christ First
Boasting