#13: Contentment

I robbed a man with nothing 

I screamed “that’s just my luck, 

I find the one man in existence 

Who doesn’t even have a buck.” 

His eyes just made me angry 

I didn’t know what to do 

If he had been carrying his wallet 

I’d be buying myself some food 

We both seemed to have nothing 

We were poverished and poor 

Except he would wear a smile 

That my eyes could not ignore 

I thought he might be arrogant 

I thought he might be proud 

But when you walk the streets with nothing 

That’s really not allowed. 

I thought he might be crazy 

Or clinically insane 

So I asked about his happiness 

Why contentment would be feigned 

His face still bright and lively 

He wore the biggest grin 

He met his eyes with mine 

And said “this face is genuine.”  

Contentment is a state of satisfaction and I think the best question to ask in regards to your contentment is, "Are you happy with the person that you are?" 

The reason why I find this question to be profound is because all of us have good days and bad days, but if the person you are is someone that makes you happy, then that is likely a good thing. If there are parts of you that you dislike, you can work towards changing that. If there are parts of you that you are proud of, then you can look to those things for encouragement.

Oftentimes, upon examining ourselves, we find that we do not live up to the person we desire to be. Furthermore, we do not live up to the person that God desires us to be. God desires for us to experience contentment at the highest level but our flawed nature gets in the way.

As a Christian, I acknowledge that not only do I fall short of my own expectations, but God's as well. Contentment then seems to be an impossibility but because of Christ's sacrifice, God no longer views me as flawed, but instead as saved. Now my contentment is no longer found in my flawed self. It is now found in the perfection that is Jesus.

So now when I ask, "Am I happy being the person I am?" I can answer by saying, "I am happy because God no longer counts my flaws against me but instead loves me because he sees Jesus in place of me." No longer am I burdened with attempting to please God to be happy, I can be happy that God truly loves me regardless.