The next three chapters deal with contentment in three areas:
Being content with myself.Many women (and men!) would laugh at this even if only in their minds. We all have things we would like to change about ourselves, whether physical features or personality traits. But Psalm 139 says that God created me just the way I am. He knit me together in my mother’s womb. When I think of knitting, I think of very detailed work. It’s one stitch at a time. I learned the basics of knitting several years ago and made a few scarves. I learned quickly, however, that if I messed up one stitch, it affected my whole scarf!
God intricately designed every aspect of me – my physical body, my personality, my emotions – He made it all! And He doesn’t drop stitches!
George MacDonald puts it into perspective:
“I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of, for to have been thought about, born in God’s though, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking.”
Being content with my roles.
Currently, my main role is that of being a wife. I’m usually quite content with this role, but there are days where I can wish things were different. I must remember that all roles provide opportunities.
Am I willing to make the most of the opportunities I have in my current role?
Dr. Larry Crabb said that in marriage, a wife will either minister to her husband or manipulate him to get her own way. You could say the same for all relationships really. I can choose to minister to those around me or manipulate them to get what I want.
Which have you chosen: to minister or to manipulate?
Being content in relationships.
People are great… from a distance. The closer you get to them, the more they can hurt you. And do they ever hurt you! And if you’re honest about it, you hurt them, too. Learning to forgive is an important component of contentment.
In commenting about the consequences of an unforgiving spirit, Swindoll said, “A Christian is a candidate for confinement and unspeakable suffering until he or she fully and completely forgives others, even when the others are in the wrong.”
As kids we heard the phrase “Forgive and Forget.” I never liked that phrase because I couldn’t just forget what someone did that hurt me! As I grew older, I realized that you didn’t literally forget the incident. Rather, you choose to not bring it up.
When Clara Barton was asked about a previous incident by one of her friends, she acted as if she hadn’t even heard of the incident. When her friend asked if she remembered it, Clara stated, “No, I distinctly remember forgetting it.”
Forgiveness isn’t just a one-time thing. We often have to continue choosing to forgive.
And forgiveness isn’t enough either. Romans 12 says, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves…Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
It must go beyond feeling to choice, just like contentment. We won’t often feel like blessing and honoring those who have wronged us, but that is what we are called to do.
Lord, thank you for the way You knit me together. Help me to be thankful for the way that you made me to be. Help me to also find the possibilities in whatever roles you place me in and to take full advantage of them! Finally, help me choose to be faithful to You, choose to forgive others and go beyond forgiveness, and choose to say words of blessing and love even to those who wrong me.
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