Discontentment and Unthankfulness

In chapters nine and ten, Bridges writes about the sins of discontentment and unthankfulness. Chapter eight focused on anxiety, worry and frustration. I am a lot more prone to anxiety, worry and frustration. At this point in my life, I am so content and so thankful on a daily basis. But there have been times in my life when I certainly wasn't as happy as I am now. During those times, I have always had an inner coping mechanism of finding ways to be content and focusing on my blessings. Even in the times when I was tempted to be discontented with my circumstances, the root of my problem was usually fear and anxiety. But I know I have been guilty of discontentment.

I don't know what your discontentment lies in. The greatest discontentment I can pinpoint as a thread that has run continuously throughout my life has been in the area of relationships. I have always longed for ideal relationships; relationships that are deep and not superficial, relationships of mutual respect and understanding. There have been significant relationships in my life that I have probably even made into idols at times because the lack of ideal relationship I wanted and couldn't make happen became the focus of all my attention and emotion. (Co-dependent is the word you're searching for.)

In God's mercy, He has helped me to outgrow some of those desperate needs. The needs are still felt, but not so desperately anymore. I have learned to be content with less than ideal relationships and even, in some cases, no relationships. I have realized that nobody but God will ever truly understand me. (I don't even understand myself much of the time.) I have come to a place of acceptance and rest in God's sovereignty. I remember one time when I was deeply grieving the loss of certain relationships and I heard an inner voice say, "I have given you new relationships to replace the ones you've lost. Let them go." I can't say I never felt sad about the lost relationships again, but I knew God had told me not to keep desperately grasping for them. If He intends those relationships to one day be restored, they will be. And if He doesn't intend that, I must accept His will and be content.

Bridges describes discontentment as arising "from ongoing and unchanging circumstances that we can do nothing about." But he adds a paragraph addressing legitimate discontentment that I want to include in this post. I think it's important.

...I want to acknowledge that there is a place for legitimate discontentment. All of us should, to some degree, be discontent with our spiritual growth. If we are not, we will stop growing. There is also what we might call a prophetic discontentment with injustice and other evils...that is coupled with a desire to see positive change.

We should never be content with injustice. I believe with all my heart it is sin to choose blissful ignorance, apathy and indifference when it comes to our response to the suffering of others. It is so natural to be discontented with fairly trivial, unchanging circumstances in our own lives while, at the same time, being indifferent toward injustices and evils committed against someone else. We tend to live in our own little worlds so much of the time; myself included. But it's wrong and it's sin. And when we recognize we are guilty of this, we need to repent and change.

Bridges writes, "The purpose of this book is to help us face the presence of many of these subtle sins in our lives and to recognize the fact that, to a large degree, they have become acceptable to us. We tolerate them in our lives with hardly a second thought. That makes them more dangerous because, in addition to the basic sin itself, they can open the door of our hearts to greater sin..."

In chapter ten (Unthankfulness), Bridges begins by telling the story of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus, only one of them returning to give thanks (See Luke 17:11-19)...

We read this story and we think, "How could those nine men be so ungrateful as to not even turn back and say a word of thanks to Jesus? And yet far too many of us are guilty of the same sin of unthankfulness.

Spiritually, our condition was once far worse than the physical disease of leprosy. We were not diseased; we were spiritually dead. We were slaves to the world, to Satan, and to the passions of our own sinful nature. We were by nature objects of God's wrath. But God, in His great mercy and love, reached out to us and gave us spiritual life (see Ephesians 2:1-5). He forgave us our sins through the death of His Son and covered us with the spotless righteousness of Jesus Himself.

Christ's giving us spiritual life is a far greater miracle, and its benefits are infinitely greater than healing from leprosy. Yet how often do we give thanks for our salvation? Have you stopped today to give thanks to God for delivering you from the domain of darkness and transforming you to the kingdom of His Son? And if you have given thanks, was it in a mere nominal way, much like some people give thanks at a meal, or was it an expression of heartfelt gratitude for what God has done for you in Christ?

Bridges goes on to explore the different aspects of, and occasions for, our thankfulness to God. Giving thanks to God is not just a good thing to do, it is the moral will of God. "Failure to give Him the thanks due Him is sin." And even "...in situations that do not turn out the way we hoped, we are to give God thanks that He will use the situation in some way to develop our Christian character. We don't need to speculate as to how He might use it, for His ways are often mysterious and beyond our understanding. So by faith in the promise of God in Romans 8:28-29, we obey the command of 1 Thesselonians 5:18 to give thanks in the circumstances."

Bridges cites Romans 1:18-32 where Paul describes "the downward moral spiral of pagan humanity of that day, as God gave them up more and more to the wicked inclinations of their evil hearts...[and] their ever-increasing wickedness actually began with their ungodliness (failure to honor God as God) and their unthankfulness to Him."

...Failure to honor God or give thanks to Him is obviously characteristic of present-day culture. And so is the increasing decadence of our age. In fact, the description of moral depravity (see Romans 1:24-32) could be applied to our age with hardly a change of words...There is no question that the increasing moral decadence around us is appalling and scary. We often wonder how bad it will get. But the next time we judge these people we need to ask ourselves if we have in some way contributed to their downward spiral into moral corruption through our own failure, along with theirs, to honor God and give Him thanks.

I rarely ever begin a prayer without thanking God for a long list of my blessings resulting from His mercy and faithfulness in my life. I am continually amazed and thankful in my heart for my salvation and His forgiveness. I'm thankful for God's provision; spiritual, physical and emotional. I'm thankful for deliverance from oppression and spiritual bondage. I'm thankful for my freedom in Christ. My deliverance and freedom came at such great cost to Jesus.

Tomorrow is the fourth of July. We should be thankful for our natural freedom and the blessing of living in this country. They are also gifts from God. But we shouldn't ever have a bigger lump in our throats singing "I'm proud to be an American" than when we sing "Amazing Grace." Being a part of the Kingdom of God is a blessing that far surpasses any other, including the blessing of living in the USA. We should always identify ourselves, first and foremost, as citizens of the Kingdom of God. And we must always remember that we are ambassadors for His Kingdom.

I will be celebrating the fourth with the Howertons this weekend. They are another of God's rich blessings in my life. From the moment I met them, they each so warmly welcomed me as one of "the gang" and showed me so much love, acceptance and appreciation. I felt instantly valued in John's family. And I know what a blessing this is from God. John is one of five siblings. Through John, God has blessed me with a loving extended (natural) family I enjoy tremendously -- and the best mother-in-law a girl could ever hope for. Also through John, God has blessed me with a loving spiritual family at WOC and many close friendships I never imagined I would have.

John and I have been together five years now and sometimes I still can't believe the ways God has transformed and abundantly blessed my life. I am thankful. God did not have to bless me. I don't deserve His blessings. I am so unworthy. And I will never be able to understand why He loves me. But I know he does. He has demonstrated His love for me in so many ways. I haven't always been this content, but I'm thankful for all the times my life wasn't so great. I am more thankful because I haven't always known this peace. And I mean that spiritually as well as naturally.

Have a great holiday. Be content. Be thankful. Love, enjoy and appreciate your family. I know I will.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Shari,

I enjoyed the writings you put on your post. I am so thankful that my husband is still with me. There was a time I thought I wouldn't have him in CGT. The turoil that went on. God has blessed us so much. WE love each other so much. You Don't think your marriage will last. Yes, we do have a lot of blessings. Bless you Shari

Love Lynda