A few days ago one of the little boys that I get to spend my day with was playing peacefully with some blocks. He would line them up in a row, stack them up high, tap them together, and say the letter or animal that he would see on the side. This went on for over an hour; a long time for a three-year-old. I watched him as I conquered chore after chore, thinking, “Wow he is so content with those blocks today.”
We use that word often when describing a feeling we have at any given time. “I am content to sit right here and take a nap.” Or “I would be as content as could be in a hammock on an island somewhere.” How often do we check our contentment within a relationship? As I type this my husband just asked if I wanted to “go to town” to grab a bite to eat. “I don’t really want to sit around,” his exact words. I am smiling to myself thinking about how he can’t really be still. He is never content to just sit and relax.
Sometimes our idea of contentment is a bit skewed. Contentment has been described as an inner sense of rest or peace that comes from being right with God and knowing that He is in control. We can find contentment in God. Unfortunately, we can cross the thin line of contentment and complacency very easily. Let’s look at a quick reference to distinguish between the two. Contentment is a state of being while complacency is an attitude. Content is who you are, complacent is what you do.
We cannot truly be content outside of a relationship with our heavenly Father.
Before we dive into contentment, I want to share with you a couple of dangers associated with complacency. Complacency causes us to live off our past victories. What does it mean to live off past victories? It is when we are tempted to remember our past victories while we should be looking ahead to the next battle God wants us to win. While remembering our past and what God has done for us is extremely important because it encourages our faith, it should never be what we “hang our hat on.” We begin to become complacent in our faith when we think of the past rather than seek God for the present and future.
Next, complacency hinders us from our prayer lives. No matter who you are, no matter what God has done through you, no matter what amazing ministry you have been a part of, you are only as powerful and useful as your current prayer life. We must continually seek God, praying about everything, all the time. Below is a list of ten things that will help combat complacency, but the bottom line is that the ONLY cure is a passionate pursuit of Jesu Christ.
- Invest your gifts
- Seek God’s will before God’s works
- Beware of a false sense of security
- Remember your first love
- Value spiritual growth over worldly growth
- Know God’s word on a deeper level
- Examine your faith
- Preparation can save your life
- Do not downplay giving
- Be aware of your spiritual enemy
We should be careful not to compromise the authority and freedom Jesus gave us by becoming complacent. Instead, we should find contentment in Him.
The idea of contentment comes from a Greek word that means “independence” or “self-sufficiency.” But the apostle Paul used the word in a Christian sense to show that real satisfaction or sufficiency comes from God. He discusses contentment within our circumstances. What we perceive as our “needs” that God says just be content with what you have.
For example, let’s look at 1 Timothy 6:6-8:
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
I would like to share a little something from Morning Devotions with Chris Witts:
Christ is the only one who can fill the insatiable desire in each of us for something more, because God created us for all our desires to be met in him alone. Christ will help us learn contentment as we rely on him through everything we go through. He will show us that he can satisfy our deepest longings and needs as we seek him and a relationship with him above everything else. Christ loves us so much and wants to meet our needs. As we lean on him, we too can say with Paul, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”
That little man of mine found such joy in his block play. But notice he was constantly moving them into new positions. Creating new things with them. He would build something new and excitedly say “Boobay, look, a tower. Boobay, look, a bridge. Boobay, letters.” Complacency would have had him only looking at what he had already made and never moving on to the next project. Complacency causes us to be still, but believers should never be still. Instead, we are either moving forward or backward. Forward keeps us content. I urge you to keep moving.
Written by: Betty Ann NeSmith. Betty Ann lives in Boston, GA with her husband, Payton.
