What we are filling our hearts with and what we are conceiving in our hearts, are the two most important questions we could ask. Because what we conceive in our hearts forms behaviors. This is why contentment is so vital to our emotional and spiritual livelihood. Contentment is when we tell Jesus that His presence is enough to meet our every need. It’s a sign of spiritual maturity, it isn’t being complacent with the ordinary because there isn’t anything ordinary about Jesus. It’s the call to be completely absorbed in a vision much higher than ourselves. This narrative is where He lives in absolute contentment, and the greatest news is that our Lord has given us an invitation to never thirst again. For in that place we discover what Jesus has a passion for.
Let’s take the Apostle Peter for example, he felt very discontented when he was disconnected to Christ in his denial. Yet more alive than ever when reconnected with Christ on the shores of Galilee. Peter learned to trust the Lord with his heart and it created in him a peace that was supernatural. This made a lifestyle of contentment the very way Peter led his life from that point on. His agenda changed from one of discontentment to one of grace and power. Peter was no longer crippled by his mistakes, and now Jesus has complete access to this his affections. Peter wants what the Lord wants, he burns for what the Lord burns for. That’s contentment.
His self worth has been reinstated in the presence of Christ. While some find self worth in performance and possessions, Peter discovers self worth in his relationship with the Son of God. That’s why it’s so crucial that we know the source of what we believe. Because in the society that we live in there are those that make personal opinions the reliable source of truth. Whenever those feelings begin to develop we tend to miss a continuous comprehensive revelation of Christ. The results of this is that our self worth gets constructed by the wrong builder.
Lets take this example, I believe that one of the greatest obstacles is being able to resist opportunity for personal advancement at the expense of others. Although opportunities are wonderful, do they bring the emotional contentment that you and I long for, or do opportunities add more pressure and fracture the most important relationships? Because without contentment we have absolutely no buffer against any bitterness towards our own shortcomings. This in turn erects a discontentment that doesn’t just bring punishment upon others but upon ourselves. With it, brings the absence of self worth, debt, inappropriate desires for things we don’t need in our lives and a restlessness that seems to never be satisfied. Who would really want that?
In Peter’s second epistle it says: “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)
Beloved you and I have been give a better opportunity, because spiritual growth happens when our hearts and minds connect daily to what is completely reliable. Peter discovered that the only individual that was completely reliable, was our Lord Jesus and in our Lord’s will was the wellspring of contentment.
Sincerely,
John Harke Team