Posted by John McGee on January 25, 1999 at 10:15:20:
In Reply to: Actually, I was leaving it open to everyone- any other responses? posted by John McGee on January 24, 1999 at 14:24:08:
: : : Content?...
: :
: : : I've been thinking about this lately.
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: : I'm thinking that you mean "content" as in "satisfied, fulfilled, at ease"?
: : Assuming that is the case, shouldn't we ask: "Are we SUPPOSED to be content?"
: : The answer would be a very definite "Yes and No".
: : Paul tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain. If I knew more about godliness I could probably comment further on this... :-O
: : However, we are not supposed to be satisfied with our PROGRESS in godliness. Paul also tells us that he did not count himself to have apprehended, but he continued to press on toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, counting everything else as lost, that he could win Christ and be found in Him.
: : So on the one hand, Yes, we should be content in Christ, content in godliness, not seeking our contentment/fulfilment/peace from temporary things any longer.
: : On the other hand, No, we should never be satisfied with the relationship we have reached in Christ; we should always desire to be closer, and act on that desire.
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: Actually, I know you realized this, but I was leaving it open to anyone, but thanks for the reply. Contentment has been on my mind lately. It is a pretty complex idea really, although fabulously simple at the same time-- maybe too simple. By this I am refering to the sort of contentment that Paul talks about (being content in all situations. Perhaps we over look the simplicity of finding contentment in search of something more complicated because we think it couldn't possibly be so easy. Truly the simple confounds the wise. Most people spend their entire lives looking for this sort of peace with their soul, even Christians. I don't mean that they are happy to be sinful and in this evil world, but that on a larger scale they are content to be. To be God's child, to be wherever they are and serving God in that place. People seek an affirmation of their worth and their existence and usually don't see that it is there already. In the simple statement-- God loves you.
: So much of what we beleive about reality is based on our perceptions, which are often faulty, rather than on the Truth. It is sort of funny that following this line of thought, the world would change if an individual would quit thinking it is the way he perceives it to be and looks at it another way-- God's way would make since, seeing that He IS the Truth.
: : The following has been an internal dialogue from the psyche of one who really needed it. We will now return you to your regularly listed forum.
Oops, I think what I meant to say at the end there was the "previous" and "monologue". I was writing very fast and didn't take the time to reread it. Not like it is really that big of a deal though.