Today’s 333 Devotional: “Has Contentment Set In?”

Contentment is being satisfied with what we have, and not wanting anything else.

While contentment can be a virtue, like when the Apostle Paul said that no matter what the situation may be, he learned to be content (Philippians 4:11-12), it can also be a detriment.

The type of contentment I’m referring to is when we get content with where we are as Christians not using our God given gifts and talents. Paul’s admonition to Timothy reveals that this can happen even to the best of us.

“Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Timothy was allowing contentment to settle into his heart and was becoming afraid of stepping out into the fullness of God’s calling and promises.

How can we tell if such contentment is happening in our lives? When someone asks us to volunteer, and we have the ability and time, but we find reasons not to because we’re comfortable.

Jesus, however, gives us an example of how to prevent this. He took up a towel and washed the disciple’s feet, and then He told us to do the same. In other words, we need to be servants to one another. Paul said we’re to bear one another’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)

To be a servant bearing one another’s burdens means we’ve got to get out of our comfort zones. We have to move out of those areas that are holding us to the wilderness and move into those areas God is calling us to take.

Yes, it’s easier to stay where we are, and doing those things that stretch us will mean a sacrifice. But God is not calling us to take up our conveniences and follow Him, but rather He’s calling us to take up our crosses.