Contentment

”But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.“

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This week's post is hard and I have struggled writing it. Do you find yourself struggling daily with wanting more, or maybe not even more, but better? Whether it be money, time, social media presence, household upgrades or items, cars, career/business development , clothing, or even familial relationships. What is it that you think you need "better" or "more of?"

Social media makes being content with your life very hard. We see the high points of picture perfect moments of people's lives and then form expectations of what we think our lives should be. One of my favorite quotes that I use almost daily is, "Comparison is the thief of joy." I found myself scrolling through Instagram often; finding myself feeling "less than." I felt like I was failing because I couldn't compete with the bloggers and people who seemed to have it all. I truly thought I was failing my family and home life because of a couple pictures or a 30 second story someone else posted. How crazy is that? How crazy is it that I was feeling discontented with my own life over a couple seconds of someone else's?

I am here to tell you, friend, that life is not meant to be spent in comparison with others or discontentment with your life. Your self worth and happiness is not defined by what others are doing or what they have. Your peace comes from above. We were not placed here on this earth to live a life of discontent. We were placed on this earth to humble ourselves and to live in contentment with the blessings that have been given and the promise of salvation that was paid for and bought by the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 13: 5-8 says this:

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.“

We have nothing to gain from this world. We are here only for a short measure of time. Our eternity is in heaven. These worldly pleasures are of no value. Comparison is nothing but a thief of your joy, peace, and contentment. You are blessed and highly favored by the living God and have an eternity of life with Him to gain. Don't lose sight of what truly matters in this life because you are blinded by greed and dissatisfaction. This world is not our home and these treasures are not of value. You have everything you need because in Him we have the promise of eternal life. My prayer for all of you this week is to find contentment in your home, life, career, etc. and to stop finding fault in your life due to worthless comparisons. I'll take it a step further and challenge you to remove whatever it is stealing your joy from you out of your life for one week and see what happens. I took Instagram off of my Home Screen so that I have to search for it if I want to scroll on it and it was the best decision I ever made. I pray this encourages you to find peace and contentment in what you have and to rid yourself of those things that are hindering you from being content. I love y'all and hope you have a great week!