Discontentment occurs when what I want and how it is are different. When there is gap between how things really are in my life and how I want them to be, discontentment often thrives. Let’s get to part of the solution to discontentment. Let’s talk about THE key ingredient that makes contentment come alive: faith….
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So far we’ve discovered contentment doesn’t come naturally, but is something that is learned. We have to work at it. We’ve also thought about the relationship between discontentment and pride. Whenever there is discontentment, there is an underlying belief that my station in life should be different than what God has ordained for me. In…
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There’s always a reason for our discontentment. Some situation we wish were different. But peel away the layers and what do you find? Lesson two: a discontented person is a proud person. How so? If you believe in a sovereign and providential God who sanctions even the minutest events (Matt. 10:29), then your situation is precisely the…
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“…I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” – Philippians 4:11 Contentment. It’s a pearl of inestimable value. Yet it often feels like like a desert mirage – looming, but never within reach. I’m going to begin a series of blogs on the topic and today we begin with the apostle…
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I am prone to melancholy. I’m not sure why. It’s just one of my struggles. I guess that’s one of the reasons I so easily identify with another preacher who struggled with it as well. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a pastor in England from the 1930’s-1960’s. When I read his book Spiritual Depression, I was both…
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We are pondering the emotional life of the Christian. Today, let’s think about the topic of sinful emotions. And let’s take anger as a case study. How do we know if we’re justified in the anger we feel and express? Anger is not always sinful. God gets angry. “Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and…
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Emotional immaturity is a barrier to overall spiritual health. This notion needs to be pondered and ultimately accepted if Christians are going to make progress in “living a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Eph. 4:1). Last time we looked at two unhealthy emotional approaches to avoid: disregarding emotions and granting emotions sovereignty….
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One question often discussed among pastors is this: how can people attend solid Bible-teaching churches and not seem to make much progress in their growth as Christians? I’ve been mulling that one for a decade. I think an answer that deserves repeated attention is simple: emotions. Emotional immaturity is a barrier to overall spiritual health. So…
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The changes in technology over the past 15 years are striking. Tops among those innovations is the smart phone. Its prevalence in our culture is reaching a saturation point – and Christians need to think seriously and deeply about what it’s doing to us. Here are a few observations. 1. Our phones nurture our innate narcissism …
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I’ve been working my way through a book, that for me, is the best book I’ve read in 2017. It’s entitled, This is Our Time, by Trevin Wax. It’s all about helping us spot the longing and the lie in every story society tells. In one particular chapter, Wax camps in the arena of politics. It’s…
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