CONTENTMENT

[Joidevivre]

"Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb_13:5.


DO YOU FEEL THAT WE BECOME MORE CONTENT AS WE AGE?

 

[GracethroughfaithinChrist]

Yes, that could apply to most, but not for all.......lol
I think the ride becomes a lot less bumpy with more experience as we aren't so gung ho to conquer the world. After we settle down and change our focus, we seem to become more content with what we have or don't have. The more we live, the more we see God's mercy towards us and see the good things He has given us.

 

[p_rehbein]

May be attributed to our memory not being what it used to be..........if you can't remember you wanted something, but didn't get it/or have it, then you don't suffer discontent from not having/getting what you forgot you wanted..........

(tongue in cheek)

 

[crossnote]

Contentment can be an elusive thing, the more you want it, the less content you become for not having it.
I do find the older one is, he generally sees through all the glitter and glamour of life.
The Christian should grow to find one's contentment in Christ fully trusting in His goodness despite contrary appearance or circumstances. ..

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Ecclesiastes 12:8, 13
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.


Psalms 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

 

[Joidevivre]

Of course, you all realize that I'm over 60?

As a woman, I've grown more content with who I am and even how I look.
As a wife, I've grown more content with my husband because I dropped early marriage expectations and accept who he is.
As a mother, I've grown more content because I trust God's hand upon my children to play a larger part in their life than their weaknesses.

You can take all of the above and apply it to a Christian life:

I am more content with how I'm perceived in the eyes of God. And with the "me" He made.
I am more content with God because I have dropped expectations of Him giving me everything I wanted, and accept what He gives and what he doesn't give.
I am more content because I trust in His goodness and that "I shall not want".

YES - Far more content than I was at even 40. Just gets better.

 

[psychomom]

Joi...i'm gonna go ahead and admit sometimes i wonder...

am i more content, or is it just the effects of menopause?? lol

then i remember...Christ in me...the hope of glory.

 

[Joidevivre]

Joi...i'm gonna go ahead and admit sometimes i wonder...

am i more content, or is it just the effects of menopause?? lol

then i remember...Christ in me...the hope of glory.

Well...you haven't reached 60 yet.

 

[Joidevivre]

Now it is time to admit that we probably grow less content with our physical body as we age. Lots more aches here and there. And why is that hill so steep when last year it seemed almost flat?

But there is a law of compensation - and I count on it!

II Cor 4:16 "Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day".

 

[crossnote]

May be attributed to our memory not being what it used to be..........if you can't remember you wanted something, but didn't get it/or have it, then you don't suffer discontent from not having/getting what you forgot you wanted..........

(tongue in cheek)

I resembled that statement 'til you said "tongue in cheek". Now, where was I

 

[Joidevivre]

I have a lot of older friends who do seem more discontented with life as they age, and they are Christians. Many are disappointed that life didn't deal them a better hand. Maybe in a way they blame God if they were honest.

What is contentment.? I was a little surprised when I did a study of the word in the Greek Lexicon.

When Paul said that in whatsoever state he found himself in, he learned to be content, it meant 'to be self-sufficient'. But that was the only time the word content was defined with that meaning.

That brings up a lot of questions. Is the person who is of a contented nature actually more self-sufficient in many ways? And in what ways would that be?

 

[psychomom]

i really do feel more content as i age...

perhaps part of that is remembering the things i thought were so important when i was younger,
and seeing how unimportant they actually were.

life is hard on the young...i look at my kiddos now (ages 20-33) and see what they're
concerned with...getting through college, jobs, marriage, raising kids, buying houses...
and it seems life is harder now, or at least more complicated, than when i was their age(s)?

i kinda like being at this "Mary" stage of life.
(where i should have been all along... )

 

[psychomom]

I have a lot of older friends who do seem more discontented with life as they age, and they are Christians. Many are disappointed that life didn't deal them a better hand. Maybe in a way they blame God if they were honest.

What is contentment.? I was a little surprised when I did a study of the word in the Greek Lexicon.

When Paul said that in whatsoever state he found himself in, he learned to be content, it meant 'to be self-sufficient'. But that was the only time the word content was defined with that meaning.

That brings up a lot of questions. Is the person who is of a contented nature actually more self-sufficient in many ways? And in what ways would that be?

hmmm...it seems unlikely God wants us to move from being dependent children
to being self sufficient, in a worldly sense.

so if a cognate to the Greek is
arkeó: to assist, suffice,
perhaps contentment is growing in our understanding of how sufficient God is,
and realizing that Power is in us, assisting us?

 

[crossnote]

I have a lot of older friends who do seem more discontented with life as they age, and they are Christians. Many are disappointed that life didn't deal them a better hand. Maybe in a way they blame God if they were honest.

What is contentment.? I was a little surprised when I did a study of the word in the Greek Lexicon.

When Paul said that in whatsoever state he found himself in, he learned to be content, it meant 'to be self-sufficient'. But that was the only time the word content was defined with that meaning.

That brings up a lot of questions. Is the person who is of a contented nature actually more self-sufficient in many ways? And in what ways would that be?

g0842. αὐτάρκης autarkēs; from 846 and 714; self- complacent, i. e. contented:— content.
AV (1)- content 1;
sufficient for one's self, strong enough or processing enough to need no aid or support independent of external circumstances contented with one's lot, with one's means, though the slenderest (Strongs)

αὐτάρκης, ες. of a happy state of mind content, satisfied (PH 4. 11) (ALNT)

25. 84 αὐτάρκης εςertaining to being happy or content with what one has- content with what one has, content with the circumstances in which one exists. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔμαθον ἐν οἷς εἰμι αὐτάρκης εἶναι for I have learned to be content with whatever circumstances I am in PHP. 4:11. (Louw)

[895] αὐτάρκης autarkēs 1x pr. sufficient or adequate in one's self; contented with one's lot, Phil. 4:11 *[842] (Mounce)

I think in context Paul is referring to what is commonly considered as being content/satisfied.