As the typical Christmas marketing has gotten fully underway, I found my myself doing something strange...trying to think of stuff to buy! LOL. I need nothing and actually, want for nothing. Christ, by His grace, has given me everything I need and more than enough stuff that I "wanted." So why was I sitting around trying SO hard to think of stuff to buy instead of sitting around thinking of how I can give?
Ouch.
I discussed this with my wife. We both laughed about it. Especially considering I had just been teaching my daughter about the blessings of contentment! (A true pot-to-kettle moment!)
So I've come to the conclusion that for many of us (myself included) contentment remains a hard character trait to master. But when it is present, God gives us victory over marketing and makes us truly thankful for all He has done in Christ! Contentment causes us to want to give rather than receive. Contentment helps us hold onto things loosely so they don't become idols. True contentment is based in the finished work of Christ!
So a quick prayer for CRCC and any who read this....may you experience the Kingdom blessing of Contentment this Christmas season, and may that blessing spill over into the rest of your life.....
"Now 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." (1Ti 6:6-7 ESV)
