The Secret of a Satisfied Life How many of you ate until you were satisfied and then ate some more on Thanksgiving Day? How many of you shopped on Black Friday this past week, either online or in a retail store? In 2016 208 million people shopped in stores or online on Black Friday weekend. Online sales climbed from $3.34 billion in 2016 to $5 billion last year. I received 31 Black Friday email advertisements on Friday alone. Some of you love Black Friday It s gets your pulse racing. Others loathe it. Not here to bust on you if you shopped Black Friday or not. My intent is to open our eyes to the way our culture is conditioning us. Advertisers know: If they can make us feel less than satisfied or discontent with what we have, we will spend $$ to get what we think will satisfy us. They want us to think that having more stuff will make us: Happy. Feel important. More secure. They do everything they can to convince us that those are true when in fact, none of those are true statements. They keep us searching contentment, satisfaction, and the peace that we are looking for. It leads to stressed out living! This isn t new. It s been around since the beginning of time. Since Adam and Eve. One day he asked the woman, Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? 2 Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, the woman replied. 3 It s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die. 4 You won t die! the serpent replied to the woman. 5 God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. In the garden, in relationship with God they had everything they ever needed. But the serpent convinced them that God was holding out on them. You are missing out and this fruit will make you happy. This will satisfy you. Contentment is only a bite away.
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful, and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So, she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So, they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Instead of being satisfied they were separated from God by sin. Instead of being content they were uncomfortable. In 1965 The Rolling Stones released I can t get no, Satisfaction. Cause I tried, and I tried, and I tried and I tried. I can t get no. Maybe you re living a life like that. Stressed-out, searching for satisfaction and contentment and not seeming to be able to find it in anything or anywhere. What do you do? Where do you turn? Is it possible to truly live a satisfied, content life? If so, how? If you re searching for answers to those type of questions, you ve come to the right place today! Because the apostle Paul, in a letter to the church at Philippi, shares some incredible insight into the secret of living a satisfied life in all situations; a life of being content in any circumstance. Last week: How to live free from worry. When you start to worry, stop to pray. Grateful prayer provides God s peace. Put it into practice. Phil. 4:10 (NLT) How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn t have the chance to help me. Paul makes it clear that he is grateful for their gifts. He had been shipwrecked, beaten and put in prison so up until this point they didn t have the opportunity to help him. Phil. 4:11 (NLT) Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. Paul makes it clear that the satisfaction of his material needs was neither the reason or the measure of his joy. He was content with or without his needs being met. What is contentment? Content is defined as Satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else. State of being satisfied. Satisfy to give full contentment too.
Contentment is enjoying what you have right now rather than waiting for something else to come along so you can be happy. Enjoying the journey, not just the destination. Contentment means this: You don t need more in order to be happy. You re happy right now with what you ve been given. Paul says I have learned how to be content meaning at one point, he didn t know how to be content. He didn t learn this until late in life; a prisoner in Emperor Nero s dungeon in Rome. Lasting Contentment is a Learned Condition. We are not born with a contented nature. This world works against us being content. Contentment is not some power we have to exercise but something we can gradually learn. If we don t learn contentment, it will be like chasing the wind. It will always elude us. Lasting Contentment is a Learned Condition. Phil. 4:12 (NLT) I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. Paul has seen both sides of the tracks. He has lived with plenty and he has endured with little or nothing. Paul is suggesting that both have their pitfalls & temptations. When we are well supplied the tendency of the human heart (our flesh) runs desperately to pride and forgetfulness of God. Our pride of self sufficiency can be a struggle. When we have what we need are we grateful or take it for granted? When it doesn t seem as if our needs are being met we can doubt God and his provision and do things our own way. Paul is saying that contentment means your happiness doesn t depend on your circumstances. It doesn t circle around what you have or don t have. We know what contentment is so what can make us discontent? How do you eliminate discontent? We eliminate the causes. What are they? Comparing. We compare everything in this country houses, lawns, cars, husbands and wives, clothes, the education of our kids (we even put My Child Was Student of the Month on car bumpers).
If you re going to learn contentment, you ve got to stop comparing your life to everyone else s. Whenever you compare, you re going to either become prideful or be discontent. And neither option is a good option. We ve got to learn that comparing ourselves to others never leads to a positive outcome. We can t be content and compare at the same time. It won t work. Complaining. God, why do they have that, and I m stuck with this? Complaining puts the focus on what we don t have rather than the blessings that we do have. Coveting. Coveting is the uncontrolled desire to acquire. It s such an important sin to avoid that it s included in the Ten Commandments. The word covet in Greek means to grab or to grasp so tightly that your hands are tight; you can t even let it go. If God ever gives you something and he tells you to give it away and you can t, you don t own it it owns you. How can we learn to be content? What can we specifically do to be satisfied with what we have now? Paul gives us the secret for living a life of contentment or living a satisfied life: Phil. 4:13 (NLT) For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Paul was convinced that the living, exalted Christ was the secret of being content in any situation and the source of his abiding strength. In Paul s life it meant God had given him the ability to be content whether he had plenty or was in need. Why did he believe that? Shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned. God s strength, presence & grace sustained him. The Secret to Living a Satisfied Life is Living it in God s Strength. **God gives us the strength to do everything he desires us to do. It s the process of surrendering our wants & desires to what God s wants & desires are for us. Satisfaction isn t found in Self Sufficiency but God Dependency. Paul was content knowing that God was with him. That he didn t have to depend on his own strength, but God s grace was enough, no matter what he had to deal with or face.
Paul was convinced that God would give him the strength he needed to face whatever God ordained him to face. Are you convinced of that? Are we convinced that God s grace is enough? Would you and I be content if God gave us nothing more than He already has? Would our heart be at peace if God s only gift to us was His grace to save us? Being content isn t reaching for more but in knowing that in Jesus Christ we have everything we need. Phil. 4:14 (NLT) Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. Paul was truly grateful for their gift, not so much for what the gift did for him, but for their willingness to respond to his need and share with him. They had entered into his need and done something about it. They saw his need and met his need. Phil. 4:15 (NLT) As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Paul had left Philippi ten years earlier had ministered in two other towns in Macedonia, Thessalonica and Berea. He is saying that ONLY the Philippians had sent him provisions to meet his needs. Phil. 4:16-17 (NLT) Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. Paul is thankful for the gift but more so he is commending them that they are maturing in their faith. They are growing in developing the grace of giving to others. The spiritual fruit that they were growing was what Paul truly desired. The gift was simply the product or overflow of that spiritual growth. Phil. 4:18 (NLT) At the moment I have all I need and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. O.T sacrificial system, every sacrifice was to provide a fragrant aroma and be acceptable to God. ONLY if it was offered with the correct attitude would it be pleasing to Him. It was all about the motive behind it. Their gift was a spiritual sacrifice that had the correct motive and pleased God.
Phil. 4:19 (NLT) And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. This a promise from scripture to Christ followers. Paul is saying if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the substitute for your sin, then you never have to wonder about God s presence or his care. We don t have to fear he will leave us on our own or be there in our moment of need. God sent his Son to provide salvation for us and his Son, Jesus Christ, is our guarantee that his grace will provide everything we need until we are with him in eternity. It defies any logic that God would go to that extent & not be there in our time of need. Surrender Control to God Today. If not, something else will control you. Your desires, other people, fear, guilt, an addiction, resentment, bitterness or even greed. We cannot be content w/o learning it and we cannot learn it w/o discipline. Surrendering control to God is part of the process of learning to be content. Admit You Can t Change on Your Own. You and I need God s strength, we need his power to help us live a satisfied and content daily life. We can t do this by willpower or in our own strength. Grab God s power. Ask God to Change You. God is the teacher, we are the students. We can only learn this from him. God, you have permission to change my way of thinking. Give God permission. Accept Help from Others. We need others to know the real us. The motives and thought processes that are behind what we do & how we live. Sometimes they encourage us, other times they call us out. Go with God s people. Lasting contentment is a learned condition. Surrender Leads to a Satisfied Life. Living in the strength of Jesus Christ allows us to live content, enjoying what we have right now rather than waiting for something else to come along so we can be happy. The secret to living a satisfied life is living it in God s strength, not our own. Contentment can only be learned as we surrender to Him.
Bridge Group Questions 1. What stood out to you about this teaching? 2. Where do most people search for contentment in life? What messages does our culture throw out to try and convince us that having more is what leads to satisfaction? Are the messages true? Why or why not? 3. Read Philippians 4:10 19. How would you define contentment? Did contentment come naturally for Paul? Does it come naturally for you? Share about it. 4. Read Phil. 4:12. What has Paul learned? Did his contentment come from having his needs met? How do we know? What are the three things Steve shared that can keep us from being content? (Comparing, Complaining, Coveting). Which do you struggle with the most? 5. Read Phil 4:13. What was Paul s secret to being content and living a satisfied life? Why was Paul so convinced of this? Does this verse mean we can do anything we want, and God will show up in His strength? Why or why not? 6. Read Phil. 4:14 18. What is Paul s message for the Philippians? Where do you see their deep care and sacrifice for Paul? What does Paul mean when he says in verse 17, Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness? 7. Read Phil. 4:19. What is the promise of this scripture? Who is the promise for? Why can we be confident, like Paul, that God will be there in our time of need? 8. Paul lived in daily surrender to God s call on his life. Why is daily surrender to God so essential for us? Is it possible to live a truly satisfied life without surrendering to God? Why or why not? 9. Three steps to surrendering to God: Admit You Can t Change on Your Own. Ask God to Change You. Accept Help from Others. Which of these is the easiest for you? Which is the most difficult? Why is that? 10. What specific step(s) can you take this week to begin to live a more satisfied and content life? What are some benefits of living a content life like Paul shared about?