Contentment

Philippians 4:11-13

My husband and I are trying to live simply. It's not easy to do: I look around our home and I can recognize that we are quite wealthy. I have to put it back into perspective, acknowledging that we live in a wealthy nation and would not be able to relate with the people around us without owning many of the things that we do own. We need two cars, for instance, not because we "need" them but because my husband wouldn't be able to do his job without one and I wouldn't be able to get together with other people during his work hours without a second vehicle. We originally signed up for facebook because people we felt it was important to interact with were using fb and said it was really the best way by far for us to interact with them. Other things we've chosen not to buy at this time, such as a large tv, because they don't fit into the mission and lifestyle we feel God has called us to live.


I think the core of simplicity lies in recognizing what God has called you to and getting rid of everything that distracts you from that. I could feel uncomfortable with our wealth if I compared it to what someone in a third world country has or if I used our position as an excuse to completely ignore the plight of those who really don't have enough. I also could feel discontent if I compared our poverty with the wealth of those who own large homes, lots of land, plenty of everything, and the biggest and best of everything. But neither attitude glorifies God. He has put us in this particular position so we can reach out to a particular set of people and part of being good stewards of the things He has blessed us with is being content exactly where He has placed us.