You want to know the secret to a life of contentment? It’s not getting rid of all your things. It’s not praising others for their successes. It’s not in focusing on the present. All those things are good and honorable and certainly the overflow of a life that is content, but you can do all these things and still struggle with discontentment. The secret is found in Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (emphasis mine). The secret is not in what “I” do…the secret is “through Christ who strengthens me.” The power of Jesus working in us is the secret to contentment. As Elisabeth Elliot once said, “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.”

When your friends are getting married and you are still single…when other couples are having children and you remain childless…when others lives seem to be “easy” and your family suffers…when the bank account is low and bills need to be paid…and even when things are going well and just like you hoped…contentment can only be found in Christ. Jesus is the answer to your needs and longings. He is the Giver of strength, the Author of faith, and the Source of lasting joy. Through Christ we are strengthened with the grace to rejoice with our friends, with perspective to not place our hope in material wealth, and with eternal vision to live in the present with fullness for eternity.

The secret to contentment is Christ. And through Him we see what we have and who He has made us to be as enough…because He is more than enough for us.

your sister, 

Gretchen