I have learned to be content
whatever the circumstances.
—Philippians 4:11
If you are defined by your possessions, you’ll feel great when you have a lot, and lousy when you don’t.
A new car, a new house, a new smart phone, a stout 401(k), a healthy bank balance. O joy! But the new rapidly wears off, the funds dwindle, and the joy diminishes. By the time you reach old age, you’ll have whiplash from starts and stops. You will have spent as much time tumbling down the mountain as you have on top of it. Contentment that’s dependent on material wealth turns us into wounded people.
But contentment that’s dependent on a Christ-centered life turns us into healthy people. Failure, disappointment, sickness—or some other adversity—can’t take away our contentment, because they can’t take away our Jesus.
Things pass away.
Jesus is here to stay.