The Dangers of Discontentment

[Ken77]

Let us first look at what God says to us about being content:
Luk 3:14  And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
Phi 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (underlines added)
 Here we are being told to be content with wages, the food we have, the clothing we have, with the things we have, and with our position in life. We above all with Christ should be content, being in Christ. However as human nature is, we all struggle with this from time to time.
Being in a state of discontentment does lead to big problems. Discontentment is basically unhappiness or dissatisfaction with being who you are and/or what you have. This state drives us to commit sin to satisfy the desire or longing in our heart for that which we do not have. It is almost like coveting, but it does not necessarily have anything to do with our neighbor, but is something from within.

Case 1: Adam and Eve. They were not satisfied with what they were given, they desired what God denied them. They ate of the firbidden fruit and cast the human race into sin.

Case 2: The nation of Israel. They were continuously dissatisfied with their situation and ended up a people in captivity.

Case 3: The addict. The cause of someones falling into addiction is a longing for something more. of a dissatisfaction with what one has. Addiction, no matter what it is, leads to distruction in many ways. It destroys lives, families, finances, the body, churches, and businesses.
 
Case 4: The Christian who falls away. This is one of the saddest. A Christian who becomes dissatisfied with his or her walk with Christ. We see much of what happens to these people in the news. The pastor who runs off, a deacon murders his wife, other caught up in adultery and fornication, gambling, and all other types of sin.

All of these are just some of the paths that the discontent end up travelling.
Pro 15:27  He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Greedy of gain, not just in money but in anything. To me it is a good description of discontent. wanting what you do not have. If let alone it grows and destroys. Let us all work to be content, it is not always easy, but we are COMMANDED to be content with who we are and with what we have.

Just some thoughts.

[Lee]

Interesting! I am going to copy and paste part of my reply to a blog this morning.

I view success and foolishness far differently than most people do. Those who strive for worldly riches and happiness are foolish and those who strive for joy and peace in life are very wise. Having the ability to be content in any state or situation that you may find yourself in is true success.

[282Mikado]

That's good Ken.

1Timothy 6:10 says: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

I submit that the word money could be interchanged with anything from this world and you would still have a correct statement. If our love of anything supercedes God and what He has seen fit to provide us with, we are bound to be discontent to some degree. The larger that "love gap" between it and God, the more discontent.

Amen...good morning study to start the day. 

[Kate]

Excellent, Bro. Ken!!! 

Bro. Lee, do you have your own blog?

[Lee]

Bro. Lee, do you have your own blog?

No not really. I blog and post to blogs on myspace some. It is hard because there is so much evil there! But there are several Christians that are standing for truth and bringing light into that dark place. It is like a cyber mission field!