Cultivating Contentment, Ep. 1: The Quest for Contentment | Word First

according to Melissa Krueger our discontented hearts need some coaching from the Apostle Paul the mountain of contentment is a harder mountain to climb than any other one you will physically face but he says I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength I'm so glad you've joined us for the revor hearts podcast for November 1st 2023 I'm Dana Gres and our host is the author of choosing gratitude Nancy Damas [Music] walgamuth Dana we're going to talk today about what I've come to believe is one of the most important Graces that we can have as Believers and particularly as women in fact I think the presence of this quality is one of the biggest things that makes a woman beautiful and that's the quality of contentment yes and it sounds like such a nice sweet thing and it shouldn't be all that hard but I found that if I'm not Vigilant if I'm I'm not always on my guard I get sucked into this sort of rip current of life in this broken Fallen World around me and I start subtly focusing on what I don't have that I want or what I have that I don't want and suddenly there's this root of discontentment poking its head up in my heart you are not alone Nancy I couldn't agree more I feel like it's easy for me to be content in magnificent moments in my life but when I'm in the Mund routine pressure of life sometimes I find myself battling against the tendency to be discontent and honestly I got to tell you one of the places I've noticed where it really triggers my discontent is when I'm spending too much time on social media oh yes scrolling mindlessly through Instagram and seeing all these new beautiful kitchens and things that I was fine with mine until I saw all the things I did didn't have and then we start to fall prey to the comparison game which is a downward Hill to a bad place it always is and that's where our guest for the rest of this week is going to help all of us Melissa Krueger is a friend she's written a book called The Envy of Eve that's a book I wish I had written it's a book I need and Melissa's done a lot of thinking and studying about the sin of covetousness and of course its opposite can contentment yeah this message is from a workshop Melissa taught at our national true woman conference last fall yeah Melissa serves as the director of women's initiatives for the Gospel Coalition and as you remember the theme for our true woman conference last year was Heaven rules meaning that God is totally absolutely in control sovereignly reigning over every spec and particle of our universe and I love the way that Melissa started her talk tying in that concept of Heaven rules with her topic cultivating contentment and those two really do go together as you'll hear over these next moments well let's listen together here's Melissa Krueger sometimes when you speak you can be concerned oh is anything I'm going to say going to matter and today I'm really excited because after Nancy and Johnny last night I I don't really think it matters what I say because I thought I called one of my friends last night I said I keep crying with all the stories I don't think I've ever cried so much at a conference in my life but I was also so struck that both of them really exemplified and all of the stories exemplified this notion of what it means when Heaven rules and how that deeply affects our contentment um they didn't maybe use the word contentment but what we saw lived in Johnny's life was this deep deep contentment even when she's sitting in that bed in deep pain fighting I mean seriously yelling out scriptures to trust the Lord it's such an example for us of what it means to fight for cont the wall I cried out every Bible promise I could think of I screamed them hoping that my helper would hear me Lord you are my everpresent help in this trouble Your Grace I'm screaming is sufficient your name Jesus is a strong [Music] tower I think we often think consentment just descends like the Holy Spirit on me um and that's not really how it works so that's what we're going to talk about it's actually something we cultivate in our hearts it's not just something that some few people out there get um and it's like a spiritual gift it's actually something that is cultivated and so what I want to also say if you see a truly content woman she's not just born that way y'all we come out of the womb screaming our heads off and we kind of continue that most of our lives like we are really good at complaining we are really good at grumbling um but it is a heart that has been restrained by the grace of God that can say like Paul I have learn the secret of being content in all things and that's what we're going to be talking about today and I think even for myself as I've explored this topic I think I often wanted contentment for me I mean don't we all we kind of think yeah I want to be a Content person because that makes me better it makes me feel great about my life well I want to start our talk giving before we jump in actually giving three reasons why your contentment is about more than just you and why it's so so deeply important and the first is that our hope matters to the watching world I'm sure most of you have read this passage before it's first Peter 3 and this is what it says but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord Is Holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you now who's heard this passage before and an apologetic training course like I got to get ready I got to get my defense let me give you three different reasons the resurrection happened you and we're ready but notice what the defense is for what does the passage say always be prepared to make a defense not for why Jesus rose from the dead not for why the cannon of scripture we can trust and that the 27 books of the New Testament all belong there that's not what you're being asked to give a defense for you're being asked to give a defense for the hope that you are foolish to walk around looking so hope and joyful all the time that you're going to walk around in this world that is full of war that is full of awful things happening every single day that make us all want to weep you're going to walk around in this world and you're going to be such a person of hope that people actually need you to make a defense for the hope that's within you the watching world is looking at us as Christians and sometimes they see us as fretful and as anxious and as worried as every non-Christian out there and nobody is going on Twitter saying well goodness that is such a hopeful person because it lives on outrage we want people who are walking into our neighborhoods who are walking into our schools who are walking into our grocery stores who are walking into our communities and the hope that is within us because Jesus Christ has died and risen again is so great that people look at us and say tell us what's going on in your heart the watching world is taking note of what we're like and so my contentment is about way more than me my contentment is actually one of my biggest witnesses to the watching world my life my hope is an apologetic that is speaking into the world every day and it is powerful second thing the church is encouraged when we live lives of contentment Paul was concerned about the Thessalonian church and he wrote to them that he knew they'd been suffering he wrote to them and said in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith for now we live if you are standing strong in the Lord Paul's looking at them and saying hey your faith in the middle of suffering is encouraging me so not only do we speak to the watching world when we suffer and we do so with hope we speak to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and it actually matters you know the reason I kept crying last night is because I was watching those stories and to see deep joy in the midst of a awful circumstances it screams what does it scream Heaven rules that's what those stories are screaming and you know what it's not just the watching world who needs it I need it I need to remember these truths so my contentment it affects the watching World it affects the church and lastly and I think this is my favorite reason my contentment matters my joy actually matters to Jesus on the night before he was to die on the cross we know from the Gospel of John that he went up and he washed his disciples feet and then we're told that he started to talk to them he started to teach his disciples and in John 15 this is what Jesus says to them he didn't say y'all gather around me y'all take care of me y'all feed me you wash my feet I'm getting ready to die for you he didn't do that he poured out and he said these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full on the night he was getting ready to go to the Cross when we're told he sweated with drops of blood because of his Agony Our Savior was concerned about your joy and my joy and so that tells me that this is is a savior who doesn't just want my eternal satisfaction he is deeply concerned about my joy today and so me fighting for joy in the midst of a world that is broken actually matters to Jesus so it matters to the watching World it matters to the life of the church and it matters to our Savior so that's why we're going to dig into this topic today that's why we're going to fight to be women of contentment so the way way we're going to do this we're going to look at three things first we're going to look at the Quest for contentment what are we even talking about does this mean I just pull myself up by my bootstraps and act like everything's okay all the time is that what we're talking about the second thing we're going to look at is what is our biggest enemy what is the enemy of your contentment and my contentment and that's when we're going to look at the sin of coveting and then lastly we're going to look at how do we fight our enemy of coveting and cultivate contentment so that's what we're going to do I'm going to actually open us up now sorry for the long intro with prayer and then we'll jump in Father we thank you that you care about our joy that we were lost and we were dead in our sins and you sent your son to come and rescue us not just for heaven but for today so Lord we pray that we would live such lives that we would be people of hope so that the watching world looks at us and says tell us about your God because your life is so different tell us about Jesus Lord change us to be those women change us to be women who face whatever comes saying I know that he is with me and I know I can endure help us Lord help us to be women who Shine Your Glory to the watching world it's in your name we pray amen okay so to begin the quest for contentment what does it actually mean to be content um the first thing I want to say is what it doesn't mean um it doesn't mean that we should have a lack of emotions um the beautiful thing about the gospels they show us a savior who had a full range of emotions Jesus got angry when the temple Changers were in the temple he was sad at the death of Lazarus he was in agony before the cross you know Jesus didn't say before the cross it's all good it's all good he didn't do that he was honest Paul never shied away from telling people about the hardships he was facing he told people look I've been Shipwrecked I've been in danger at the sea I've been in danger on the land I've been whipped this and beaten this many times daily I bear the burden of the Church Paul shared honestly his struggles so contentment is not an absence of struggles nor is it an absence of talking about your struggles even last night we understood something about our God hearing Joanie talk about her suffering it's okay to share what is honestly happening that's not in opposition to contentment contentment is not an emotional life Instead This is what it is so I want you to here's here's the definition I'll say it twice contentment is an inward Assurance an inward Assurance of God's sovereignty and goodness that produces the fruit of joy and peace in the life of a Believer regardless of outside circumstances so it's an inward belief in about God that produces outward fruit regardless of what's happening in our circumstances okay and so these are really important things and the visual image I like to use of contentment comes to us in Psalm one I love Psalm one it says blessed is the man who doesn't do you doesn't sit in the SE of mockers doesn't do all those things blessed is the man who Delights in the law of the Lord and on his word he meditates day and night whatever he does prospers it says he is like a tree planted by a stream of water he's always bearing fruit that's this image I want to keep in your head this is a tree that is planted by an external stream so it's constantly being filled and it's constantly bearing fruit here's what it says in Jeremiah 17:7 blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose trust is in the Lord he is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream it does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green it is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit notice external circumstances are not always good even in the year of drought it's bearing fruit we want to be like that tree no matter what is is happening externally we're bearing fruit because we have a source that is producing that fruit Jesus and this is what I love about scripture things that are written in these nooks and crannies the Psalms Jeremiah now Jesus and the Gospel of John picks up on this imagery and what does he say abide in me and you will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing you know what Jesus is claiming I'm the stream you need to be planted by abide in me and that's the only way to bear fruit and what's that fruit that's on the Jesus tree Galatians tells us the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience those are the fruit that we Bear by abiding in Jesus that's the contented life that's the life that says no matter what happens to me externally I'm bearing those fruit because I am connected to the vine that is Jesus so the contented woman is ultimately an abiding woman and I want you to really listen to what Jesus said he said apart from me you can do nothing I don't know if any of you are gardeners out here I love to Garden um I love my tomato plants they bring me a lot of Joy I will say but when they come to this type of season right now all of mine are dead and if you pull up a Vine a Vine is useless for anything um you know if a tree dies you can take the wood and you can build something you can build a chair you can build a table you can build something a Vine nothing I put them in a big big black trash bag and they go away because they are good for nothing every time I do that I remind myself this is what I'm going to look like if I'm not abiding in Jesus this is the image of what life apart from Jesus looks like and often women aren't we living that life we're going forward saying I'm okay I'm okay I spent time with Jesus like a month ago it's not enough that's why he said he's Daily Bread he's a living water like all the images are the things we need every day we have to be abiding woman there is no way to be content in this world apart from abiding in Jesus there's no way it's impossible to do Paul gives us some further characteristics of what contentment looks like in his letter to the Philippians this is that verse kind of that gets every time we talk about contentment this is what we talk about and he says I am not saying this because I am in need for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances I know what it is to be in need I know what it is to have plenty I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether wellfed or hungry whether living in plenty or in want I can do everything through him who gives me strength that verse is one of those ones that kind of gets put on you know like the soccer team's Jersey I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength I can score that goal I can run that extra mile what's Paul talking about here he's talking about contentment and let me say the mountain of contentment is a harder mountain to climb than any other one you will physically face but he says I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength so here are some here's some wisdom we can take from this passage the first thing thing is that contentment is available contentment is not for superhero Christians it is for anyone who is connected to Jesus so if you are connected to Jesus it is available to you and that is very very good news it is independent the second thing it is independent of circumstances and dependent on Christ okay so what we are not saying is I I have learned the secret of being tough as nails and I can be content in every circumstances that is not this is not a hardened woman this is a woman who is an abiding woman who says I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me he's not strengthening you you for your imaginary fears Elizabeth Elliott used to say that when women would come yeah if you know the story of Elizabeth Elliott her husband was martyred along with four other missionaries in Ecuador and she always said people would come up to her almost more distraught than she was about her life and say how can you bear this how can you bear this and she was like God's grace is sufficient for your real life not your imaginary one and what we need to hear as women don't think about tomorrow this is what will rob you of contentment if you were thinking about tomorrow ask yourself whatever you are bearing today can can you bear it one more day can you hold it for today and you might need to say to yourself can I hold it for the next hour and then you make it that hour and then you say can I hold it for the next hour can Jesus hold this with me for an hour it's when we start saying I'm not sure I can bear this for another year I'm not sure I can stay married to that person for 10 more years or 15 more years that's can you stay married today can you fight for contentment today and whatever you are bearing that's the question for you it's not 10 years down the road fight for contentment through Christ strength alone for [Music] today and sometimes it really is a fight for contentment don't you know it but it's a battle worth waging because the victory is so sweet well we've been listening to Melissa Krueger speaking in a breakout session at a recent true woman conference in Indianapolis we'll hear more from Melissa on this subject tomorrow but before we go I want to ask you to think about your own life and this Quest this battle for contentment did you catch how Melissa defined contentment she said it's an inward Assurance of God's sovereignty and goodness that produces the fruit of joy and peace in the life of a Believer regardless of outside circumstances so this might be a good time for us to check for that fruit of joy and peace in our lives here's some questions you might want to ask yourself even as I'm asking myself for example do I complain a lot about my circumstances feeling like I deserve something better or different how about this one do others hear me voice more complaints and negative comments then they do words of contentment and gratitude about the typical events of daily life or how about this would the people who know me best describe me as a contented person if you're not sure ask your mate ask your roommate ask a parent ask the people who are with you when you let your hair down and you just say whatever comes into your heart does contentment show up in my life through the fruit of gratitude ude and joy and if you find that there's not a lot of contentment showing up in your life then ask yourself this what might be robbing me of contentment Melissa is going to talk about the enemy of contentment that's covetousness tomorrow here on Revive Our Hearts but as you think and pray about this subject today ask the Lord to show you where your heart attitudes may need some adjustments Dana okay wow well that's a great list of questions thank you Nancy and I would just remind listeners that this program has already been transcribed so you can read those questions again if you'd like in the transcript at reviveourhearts.com and that transcript is also where you'll see a link to more information about Melissa Krueger's book for women the Envy of Eve finding contentment in a Covetous World while you're at reviveourhearts.com be sure to check out our gift of any amount offer the set of 31 tabletop Advent cards that you can display on a stand there's a card for every day of December and they feature a Bible verse and a thought for the day from ny's devotional born a child and yet a king and speaking of that devotional did you know there's going to be a book reading club starting on December 1st yeah it's true it's a Facebook group where you can interact with each other about each day's reading in ny's Advent devotional so if you're into reading clubs check out all the details that revive our heart s.com with your donation be sure to request your set of beautiful cards for your home or office or even maybe your Christmas tree Aaron Davis said she's going to string a new card up on the tree each day in December I think that's very cool to make a donation and ask for the cards just visit reviveourhearts.com or call us at 1 1800 569 5959 that's 1 800 569 5959 well as Nancy mentioned our contentment has a big enemy join us tomorrow as Melissa Krueger helps us look at the enemy of contentment which is covetousness that's tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Damas walgamuth wants you to find contented Freedom fullness and fruitfulness