All righty. It's good to be with you all this afternoon. We're going to be taking a little bit of a break from the book of Romans today. Had another subject that's been on my heart for about a month or two, so I'd like to take a look at that this afternoon together. And I hope it's as much of a blessing to you all as it has been for me to study through this. Our passage this morning is going to be 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6. And we're going to begin reading in verse 6. 1 Timothy 6, verse 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 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." So the title of my message this afternoon is going to be Learning Contentment. Learning Contentment. And we see a good comparison and contrast here between a person that is content and a person that is discontent. We see the parallel there. And Paul says, having food and raiment, we ought to be content. The will of God for us is to be content. But those that will be rich, so those that are chasing after worldly things, many foolish and hurtful lusts, he calls them. And he also closes this passage saying, and they have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. I don't know if there's a better word that can really describe our nation and the time we live in than discontent. If any of y'all watched the Super Bowl, I was, again, been meditating on this for a month, and I couldn't help but notice just how many commercials are geared toward this idea of your life is okay right now, but if you have this, it'll be so much better. So that's what we're going to try to look at today, is how to cultivate a content lifestyle. What is contentment? How do I know if I'm discontent? And that's what we're going to try to look at. The first thing I wanted to bring up to you, and I found it fascinating, is content in the Greek is actually a verb. And it's akin to the idea of putting up a barrier or a wall to yourself is actually what it breaks down to mean. So contentment is not this idea of if I think about it long enough or if I say a prayer for contentment and I just sit here, eventually I'll reach a plane where I'm content. It's not that. It's an action of learning contentment. you know, we ought to be content. Paul will say, and we'll turn there here in a little bit, but in Philippians 4, he says, I have learned to be content. So it's something we can learn and can grow in and can cultivate. So keep that in mind as we're studying through this is, you know, contentment is something that you do. So rather than something, you know, you passively just arrive at with the passing of time. So, first off, we're going to look at discontentment and a couple of characteristics of a discontent lifestyle. So, first off, they build their hopes of life on things that are not guaranteed and will not satisfy. And that really wraps it all up in a nutshell, doesn't it? The idea that we're putting our hopes and our treasures into things on this earth that They're not guaranteed. And we do this from a very young age. When we're young, we're in high school, sometimes even before that, we have these plans for our life, right? It's, I'm going to get out of high school, I'm going to go to college, I'm going to meet the perfect woman that's going to cook three meals a day for me, meet me at night with a robe, have the football game on, and not complain. I'm going to have four kids, two girls and two boys, And they're never going to fight. They're going to be perfect, because my parenting method that I've come up with right now is going to be flawless. Those are silly examples, but you can see how quickly, if our hopes are built on those things, it's like the idea of the foundation being built on the sand. That sand is going to shift. And if our hopes are built on, I'm going to have the perfect spouse, If Margaret was looking to me to be the perfect spouse for her, her hopes and dreams would have been dashed two minutes after we got married. It would have been over quick. And that's the same for any one of y'all. It's the same thing, that we cannot look to people or things to satisfy. Christ says this in Matthew 6. Turn with me to Matthew 6. Matthew 6. We're going to begin reading in verse 19. This is not going to be a new passage for y'all. Christ says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break in and steal. And I'm going to read verse 21 as well. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So Christ is laying out here the foolishness of laying up our treasures here on earth. Because things on this earth are going to decay and deteriorate. We live in a sin-cursed earth. People are going to pass away. They're going to grow old. And you can't put your hopes in that because it's never going to last. You're never going to last. The things, you know, that new truck that looks so glossy in the commercial, you know, you drive it for a year or two and It starts having issues. It has rust just like your other one. It decays. And that satisfaction that you thought you were going to have is no longer there. Or thieves will break in and steal. It can be taken away. It's not guaranteed to attain or hold these things because they can be taken away. it would be foolishness to hope in those things. And when we do that, or a good example of this biblically would also be Solomon in Ecclesiastes. Solomon is lamenting the fact that all of the things in which he thought would satisfy and attain have turned out to be vanity. I mean, that's the word of the book, isn't it? Vanity. Vanity, vanity, vanity. Get an example of that. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 5. Ecclesiastes chapter 5. We're just going to read verse 10. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This is also vanity. And so Solomon is really breaking down the issue here. He that loves silver, no matter how much he gets, no matter how much he gathers of the silver, it's never going to be enough. And he that loves the abundance of stuff, even though he attains more abundance, more and more, it's never going to be enough. It's never going to satisfy. This, too, is vanity. And yet, we forget this, don't we? We think that, well, Solomon, if I get this, I'll be happy. Solomon might have just been a bitter person or a discontent person, rather. But no, we're never going to attain more than Solomon had. Solomon is one of the richest kings to have ever lived, definitely richest in Israel's history. So if we're thinking that we can attain more than what Solomon had and be satisfied and he wasn't satisfied with it, friends, it's foolishness. It's never going to work. We will end up discontent. Discontentment, they build their hopes of life on things that are not guaranteed and will not satisfy. Number two, discontentment delights and desires worldly things above God. You know, another word for discontentment is covetousness. It's the same, kind of in the similar idea of I want what I don't have. I want what someone else has that I want that I don't have. And covetousness, it's an inordinate love for worldly gain or for things. In the book of Colossians 3, verse 5, it says covetousness, which is idolatry. It's idolatry. That thing has become your practical God. that thing that you inordinately desire has become your practical... it's taken over the role of God in your life. Because what you're striving for You're thinking, that's going to satisfy. That's going to give me what I'm wanting out of life. And it can be a multitude of different things. I was thinking on this with the Greek gods and how many different ones that they had. God's little G. But they had a God for fertility. They had a God for wealth. They had just anything they wanted. They made a God for it. And we look at that now and we say, well, that's foolish, but ours have just taken a, you know, a different route. We don't build a statue of a God that we think will grant us those things, but we run hard after the things that we think will. So it's the same thing. We're not any less guilty in our hearts when we chase after something so inordinately that, you know, it's our practical God. And I thought about this as well. Chasing after these things is like a wanderer in a desert chasing after a mirage. Y'all are familiar with a mirage? It's when a person traveling through a desert is so parched with thirst. and they think they see water, whether it's the glare of the sun off of the sand, or whether it's just their desperation, and they run after it, and what do they find when they get there? More sand. Now the mirage is over to the other side, and they run after that, and they will spend, until they die, chasing mirages, thinking that it's water. That's what chasing after these things is, it's chasing mirages. We think that it's water, and it's not even water. It's just more sand in a wilderness. So longing after the things of the world, and they're becoming our idols. And it's okay to have, you know, to desire things. I don't think that, you know, it's not bad, but it's when it becomes an inordinate desire. It's when it takes over your whole line of thought. You know, it's not a bad thing to desire a wife. But if you're willing to, as we get into here in a minute, if you're willing to sin to get it, or willing to sin when you don't get it, then that's a telltale sign that that is your practical idol. It's okay to want children. But if you are willing to sin to try to get it or sin as a reaction of not getting it, becoming angry, lashing out, then that has become your practical idol. It's okay to want to progress at work and be faithful and provide for your family. But if you are willing to sin to get ahead or sin as a result of not getting the promotion or not moving ahead, then that has become your idol, that gain. And you can see the trend there. Those are all the things that we're tempted. As the passage says, there's no sin that's not common to man. This is all common to us. We all struggle with these same things. Now, some of us may struggle with different areas of it, but you'll be able to find somebody that struggles in the same area pretty easily. A couple other areas or idols that we crave after is money or goods, possessions, a nice house, a nice car, more wealth, reputation and image. How do I look to other people? Is my reputation being upkept? That can be an idol of discontentment of, I'm upset that people saw what I didn't want them to see. Again, it's this idea of what are you willing to sin to get, lie, cover up, or sin as a result of not getting. Your reputation is found out. Or, Comfort and ease. We hear a lot about that one, but that's one of the bigger struggles of, I just want it to be easy. And anything I can do to get to a point to where it's easy, I will do it. Comfort and ease. So, again, we ask ourselves, well, am I desiring anything in an idolatrous way? And we search our hearts What have I been willing to sin to get? And what have I been willing to sin as a result of not getting or having it taken away? Have I been angry, hateful, vindictive, argumentative, or critical? That's a pretty quick way to find the idols in our hearts, isn't it? It's like shining a flashlight into a dark cavern where we hoped we would never have to look. So, they desire things of the world above the things of God. And thirdly, discontentment breeds isolation, murmuring, and complaining. You know the old saying, misery loves its company. In most cases, discontent people, they're going to draw back from anybody that's going to disagree with them and tell them, it's not as bad as you think it is. especially in Christian circles, it's someone that would speak truth in their life and say, you know, God's is still in control. You still are blessed with this, that and the other. But we don't want to hear that when we're when we're discontent. I've been there of we don't want anybody to tell us why I shouldn't feel bad. I just want to feel bad. And I don't want to tell anybody to tell me that me not attaining this is, you know, God has a better plan or has better things promised for me. I don't want to hear that. I just want that. And if I can't have that, it's almost like Ahab in the song, The Poochy Lip, you know, if I can't have that vineyard, I won't eat any bread. It's just settling into I'm just going to be miserable and discontent. If I can't attain what I think, you know, what I want or what I think I need. So discontentment, and we've all talked with somebody that's that way. You can't even carry on a conversation without it always coming back to, well, it's not fair that I don't have this. And we've all known people that are that way. And it's really sad to see that their whole life, they're missing the forest for the tree. They're standing right in front of this one tree and they're missing everything else. just because I can't have this one tree. It sounds a lot like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? You can eat of everything in the forest. What about that one? That's the only one you can't. Focus. We're the same way. We get hyper-focused on something and we miss all of the other blessings, all of the other gracious things that God has done for us. because we're so focused on this one thing that we think, I've got to have it. This is going to be, this is what I need. And that leads into, again, a discontentment that will murmur and complain. Philippians 2.14 addresses that. Turn with me to Philippians 2.14. And it says, do all things without murmuring and complaining. So again, the idea of doing all things, no matter what the season, no matter what the circumstance, do not fall into the trap of murmuring and complaining as a result of feeling slighted or not getting what you think you have to have. So discontentment breeds isolation and murmuring and complaining. So second, we're going to look at contentment. What does contentment look like then? If that's a discontent lifestyle, then what does contentment look like? And again, remembering that contentment is an action. Just like discontent is something that we allow ourselves to do. Think again on the definition of the word. We're allowing ourselves to run wild in our own mind rather than putting up a barrier to ourself and contentment. So first off, a content person builds their hopes on God and trusts that they have all they need to glorify God. So we're building our hopes on God rather than on the things of the world. Building our foundation there, again, that's He is the solid rock. He's not going to move when the troubles of life come. He is the same yesterday. He is the same today. And it's not going to vary or change based on circumstance, time, or anything like that. It's always going to be the same. And we trust that we have all that we need to glorify God. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 9. And we're going to be looking at verse 8. And it says, That's an amazing passage, isn't it? To make all grace abound. So it's in abundance. And that you would have all sufficiency. It is sufficient. It is everything that you need to abound to every good work that God has planned for you to do. So we're focusing on that rather than, again, what we don't have. It's the idea of I have all that I need, all that God has given me in this season of life to do what He has purposed for me to do. And that sounds difficult on the front end, doesn't it? But honestly, brothers and sisters, that is a freeing thought of everything I've needed to accomplish the will of God in my life right now. I have. Lacking nothing. It is sufficient. So if I spent all of my effort thinking, well, no, I really need to get this, brothers and sisters, we'll chase forever. Or when we attain it, we've put so much hope in it, when it's taken away, our whole world is going to collapse like a house on a sandy foundation. It's going to be ruined. But if our hope is built on Christ and we think, I have all sufficiency, I have all I need, like in our passage in 2 Timothy, having food and raiment let us therewith be content." So Paul is saying, you have food and you have clothing, be content. Now that, again, that sounds hard. That's a hard, like the apostle said to Christ, Master, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? You know, this is hard. But honestly, it is freeing because you're not having to force yourself or do anything of yourself to chase after what you think you need. You can rest in all that I have, all that I need, I have right now. And especially in us in America, we have so much. We're some of the most blessed people on the planet as far as the things that we have. And yet, you see what discontentment does. We're also the most unhappy nation. miserable, chasing after all of this stuff. And our richest people are the most miserable because they get it. They got to have more. So contentment is that again, is this idea that we have all that we need? Psalm 23 one. It's a well-known passage. We're not going to turn there, but the Lord is my shepherd. I have no unmet needs. I have no unmet needs. So with food and clothing, we are to be content. Christ also, if, you know, backs this up in Matthew 6, where he says, my father that feeds the ravens and clothes the lilies, how much more shall he not feed and clothe you, O ye of little faith? The same idea of food and clothing. Be content. So the question I would ask on that is, and it's been a piercing question for me as I've been thinking through this, is if all I had was my relationship with Christ, food, and clothing, and that was it, would I be satisfied? And that's a difficult question. And yet, a lot of times the things that pop immediately in your head of, well, I would really want this, then, brothers and sisters, those are usually the things we're putting too much stock in to begin with. Because Christ says all we need He has provided, and that having food and raiment, or food and raiment and Christ by your side, be content. putting our hopes on God and trust that, you know, the content person, putting all their hopes on God and trusting that they have all they need to glorify God. A content person, secondly, places their hopes on the promises of God and the things eternal which cannot be taken away. So again, from Matthew 6, the idea of store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves do not break in and steal. The things that are eternal and cannot be taken away, they cannot be stolen by thieves. Decay is not going to get a hold of them. They will be there for us in eternity. That is where we put our hopes. We also put our hopes in the promises of God. 2 Peter 3.9 says, God is not slack or delaying in His promises. He's not slack. He's not delaying in His promises. And they are true, and He's not delaying regarding any of them. Now, this is a little sidebar, side note. But, brothers and sisters, you will never accomplish a content life if you don't have the ability to hope on the promises of God if you don't know what the promises are. You have to be, like Brother Lewis said this morning, we have to know what we're hoping. If we're thinking, well, I hope in the promises of God, and you can't name any of the promises, it's an empty hope. You have no idea what you're even hoping in. And it's not going to take a very strong wind to force you off of that position. We have to know what the promises of God are to be able to hope in them. So we're hoping in the promises of God and the things eternal which cannot be taken away. A content person also willingly submits themselves and delights in the varying circumstances of life. You think about the mindset of Job when we're thinking about this, that when his servants came and said, Master, all your children are gone. All of your wealth is gone. And he said, naked came I into this world, naked goeth I out. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's incredible. that would be the equivalent of us here losing our whole family and making a bad bank investment and losing everything. He lost everything. The only thing he was left with was his wife. And not to be too controversial, but by the end, it sounds like that was more for a punishment than it was a blessing. She's encouraging him to curse God and die by the end. But the idea that Job was, his mind was the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. His name is still blessed. Blessed is the name of the Lord. Job understood this idea of it is not about the worldly stuff. It's about the heavenly treasures. The worldly stuff is, you know, it's nice that, as we'll get to in a second, they are tokens of God's love to us. but they're not everything. And for us to make them everything is honestly, it's hurtful to us because they're never going to satisfy and they can be taken away. And if we are hoping in them, our whole ecosystem will collapse very quickly. So we accept where God has placed us. whether good or bad, and we resign ourselves to His sovereign will, realizing He has not withheld any good thing from us. You know, that is in Scripture that God has given us every good thing. Now, where we get confused and where this can kind of spiral is when we think of, we confuse our good, good thing, with God's good thing. But it answers all of the questions. Why do some people have money and some people don't? Why do some people have children and some people don't? Why do some people have more time to be able to serve and I don't? Well, brothers and sisters, it goes back to the body of Christ illustration of we aren't all eyes. We aren't all ears. What's good for you may not be good for me. What you can handle and the temptation of being consumed with, can handle is not what I can handle, and vice versa. We understand that God has given us all good things for us, that I have not lacked any good thing. And we see that in Psalm 84 verse 11. Psalm 84 verse 11. And it says, for the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. And so that's a promise of God that He is not withholding any good thing from us. Again, we can rest and trust in it and know that God is sovereign in the things that we receive and the things that we attain and the things that we don't attain. And we trust that he is perfect in his timing that when it is, you know, his answer may just be not yet. You need to grow a little bit before you can before you can take this. And we accept that. And if the answer is flat out, no, we accept it as well, knowing that it would not be good for us to attain what God has not given us and to fight and to struggle and to try to attain it anyway. never would attain and it wouldn't satisfy anyway. So this is, again, it sounds hard on the outset, but it's really freeing that we can look around and say, God, thank you. All that I need, you have provided. Now, it's not all that I've desired, but it's all that I need. And I pray that you help me to grow and to desire what you would desire for me. So lastly, on the content person, I'm going to try to speed up through the rest of these because we're running out of time. The content person rejoices and realizes that the things they possess realize the things they possess as blessings from God and are not captivated by them. And I wanted to read a quote by Richard Baxter I thought was super powerful concerning this. Remember to what ends all worldly things were made and given you. They are the provender of our bodies, the traveling furniture, our helps, our ends, and solace and company in the way. They are some of God's love tokens, some of the lesser pieces of His coin, and bear His image in superscription. They are drops from the river of eternal pleasures to tell the mind by way of the senses how good the donor is and how amiable and what higher delights there are for souls and to point us to the better things which these foretell." Isn't that incredible? That all of the things that we have, we look at our families, we look at the jobs and things we have. Those are just the lesser pieces of God's coin. They're the drops of the river eternal, just to remind us of God's graciousness. But they're only drops. Only drops. And we will experience way more when we go to the glory to be with Him. This is not our home. These are just our traveling ends and our solace and company here. I have a greater treasure that is to come. Not the treasures here that will decay, moth and rust, and thieves can take away, but that no one can take away. And the things here are just the drops of a gracious God who has seen fit to give me these small pleasures while traveling through this pilgrim world." Brothers and sisters, that's incredible. So, quickly, an application. Turn with me. We're going to look at Philippians chapter 4 for our application portion here. Philippians chapter 4. So Paul here is again laying out As I mentioned earlier, he has learned to be content. I've learned to suffer need. I've also learned to abound. So Paul is saying that I've learned to have things, and I've learned to do without things. I've learned to be content in much, and I've learned to be content in little. And the craziest thing about this section is Paul is writing this from Roman prisons. I was a little bit curious while I was Reading this, I decided to watch or spend 30 minutes to an hour watching documentaries on Roman prisons. Brothers and sisters, that's not prisons like we have today. It was a hole, a brick hole in the ground with no light, no bathrooms, no beds, just darkness and stone and the smell of what would be in the place with no bathrooms. It was horrifying. And you think Paul is writing this, I've learned to be content. That is powerful when we realize where Paul was at. and what circumstances he's writing this. Also find it interesting, again, side note, this is where Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, strengthens me. This is not that you will hit the last jump shot in the game or score the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. It's honestly kind of silly when you consider the context to even think that it would mean that, but it's I can suffer you know, great things, and I can be content in my circumstances through Christ who strengthens me. That is what that verse is applying to. But a couple of, again, applications from, so what do we do with this? How do we learn contentment? Paul kind of gives us a roadmap here in the beginning of Philippians 4. But first off, kind of to the side of this, To learn contentment, we do not isolate ourselves, but commit ourselves to the church of God and to faithful friends that will lift us up in times of struggle with discontentment. So we do the opposite of what a discontent person does. We do not push away the good friends that will speak truth into our life because we don't want to hear it. But we draw that into our life. Because it's a whole lot harder to feel sorry for yourself when you're in the church of God and you hear a prayer request like Sandra Dean, Sister Sandra that we're praying for. That makes our problems seem tiny. What that woman has suffered. We also have the ability to have the preacher of the Word of God and brothers and sisters to draw alongside us and lift us up, lift us out of that pit of despondency that we so often throw ourselves into. Ecclesiastes 4, 9-10, I won't turn there, but it backs it up. Woe to the man that falls when he is alone and does not have someone to pick him up. Having a brother or a traveling companion that you don't fall alone, and someone can speak truth into your life and encourage you in the way. So, we do not isolate but compare ourselves to the band of faithful brothers. We cultivate joy in the Lord rather than circumstances. And we see that in verse 4 here. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. So powerful he mentions it twice. Rejoice. Rather than the murmuring and complaining, We display joy and rejoice because, again, when we focus on what good things God has given us, we get our eyes off of that one tree that we're so focused on and realize the drops of blessings that are all around each and every one of us. It's a lot. We rejoice because God is a gracious God. As we read earlier in Psalm 84, He has given us all good things. Every good thing. we cultivate joy in the Lord rather than in circumstances. We let our humble willingness to accept the circumstances of life be shown to all men. And we see that in verse five, let your moderation, which is another word for humility, let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. So it's our humility and the accepting of the things that are coming our way, whether that be trials or whether that be not attaining things that we, you know, that we desire. But we, you know, in humility, accept those because the Lord is at hand and the Lord is at hand simply means God is with you. He is not out of pocket or far off. He is at hand. He is right there. As Brother Lewis read this morning, He is with you in the fire. He is with you in the flood. He is with you on the mountaintop. He's at hand. So, number four. We react to our circumstances with prayerful thanksgiving. And we're going to see that in verse six. Be careful for nothing, which is another way of saying be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. I remember an old quote. I tried to find it, and I couldn't exactly find it. It was either a preacher or somebody that said it. I couldn't find it, so I can't give him credit. But it was the idea of prayer does not conform God's will to ours, but our will to God's. This idea of when we pray, We are praying with the mind of Christ of, Father, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but thy will be done. And it conforms our whole mindset of, God, I don't want to be in this situation right now. You know, I want to be free from it, but not my will, but thy will be done. Be with me through it. And notice that he also throws in, with thanksgiving. Again, remember, Paul's writing this from a dark prison cell in Rome. And he says, with thanksgiving, bringing our request to God. Is there any better place to bring our cares and our worries than to the throne of grace and to God? I mean, murmuring and complaining to other people, what does that accomplish? Nothing. It often just makes us feel worse. But we can take our cares to the Father, knowing that we do not have a high priest that is not touched. He cares. And it is the greatest place to take our worries and our fears. And lastly, we meditate on good things rather than feelings of unmet needs. So Paul goes through the list here on verse 8. I'm going to speed read through them. But Paul says, think on these things in verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true. So get the lies out of your life, but focus on the agreeable truth, the things that are agreeable to God's Word and the truth therein. In other words, maybe turn off the news every once in a while and read your Bible. Focus less on the evil things of the world, and there's plenty of it out there. And focus on the truth. Whatever is honest or worthy of respect, like wisdom, character, age, focus on that. Whatever things are just, good interactions, giving God what belongs to Him and man what is due, focus on that. Whatever is pure, holy, chaste, not filthiness that is so common, but agreeable to the holy nature of God. Focus on that. Think on that. Whatever is lovely, amiable, deeds among men, service, friendships, love, and a face-to-face setting. Focus on that. Whatever is of good report. And that's the things that are lovely that are spoken of for all. If there be any virtue, goodness, or any admirable thing, think on that. If there be any praise, any praiseworthy event or thing, think on that. We think on these things, we meditate on them, and we fixate our mind on them, rather than what a discontent person does and we think, I don't have this, and if I don't have this, I will never be happy. Well, they'll never be happy, even if they attain what they so desperately desire. But we, through Christ, have the ability to consent ourselves by focusing on good things. And we can do that, like Paul says in verse 13, we can do this through Christ which strengthens us. I can remain faithful in times of plenty through Christ who strengthens me. I can praise and remain faithful in times of want through Christ who strengthens me. And I can be a content father of Christ through Christ who strengthens me. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we just thank You for Your Word, Father, and for Your tender love toward us, Father. We thank You for the many drops of blessing that You have given us in each and every one of our lives, Father. And Father, we just pray that You would help us to cultivate a content heart, a heart that is stayed upon You, a heart that has perfect peace through You. Father, we admit that these are hard things and we are so prone to run the opposite direction. But Father, I pray that You would just help us. Give us the strength that we need to run to You. We know that You have promised us All those that draw nigh unto You, You will draw nigh unto them also. And Father, we just pray that You would help us to accept that and that we would cultivate content hearts in our day-to-day lives. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.