God gives us a great privilege and after a while, the privilege becomes an expectation. Then when the expectation is not met, it turns into discontent.
Some people would call this criticism, but there’s a big difference in being constructively discontent and being critical. If somebody says, “There’s got to be a better way to do this,” you can see if there’s leadership potential by asking, “Have you ever thought about what that better way might be?” If they say no, they are being critical, not constructive. But if they say yes, they are challenged by a constructive spirit of discontent. That’s the unscratchable itch.
On the other hand, murmuring discontent is such a deadly and dangerous condition that has existed for generations and threatened the life and growth of faith communities for ages. An episode in the life of Israel shows that murmuring discontent is not only dangerous but also lethal, causing a host of spiritually ruinous conditions. The tragedy of murmuring discontent is cancerous in nature; a slow and insidious poison, its effects take years to be seen. Worse, murmuring discontent can also be very addictive.
Discontentment is an emotion that is capable of dwarfing us spiritually because it is directed against the Lord. If we are discontented with His will for us, then we're not going to grow in our faith.
Everyone struggles with discontentment at one time or another, and it’s particularly difficult when we are discontent with the church because no one can hurt a believer as deeply as a group of other believers.
FIRST MERCHANT
Some people would call this criticism, but there’s a big difference in being constructively discontent and being critical. If somebody says, “There’s got to be a better way to do this,” you can see if there’s leadership potential by asking, “Have you ever thought about what that better way might be?” If they say no, they are being critical, not constructive. But if they say yes, they are challenged by a constructive spirit of discontent. That’s the unscratchable itch.
On the other hand, murmuring discontent is such a deadly and dangerous condition that has existed for generations and threatened the life and growth of faith communities for ages. An episode in the life of Israel shows that murmuring discontent is not only dangerous but also lethal, causing a host of spiritually ruinous conditions. The tragedy of murmuring discontent is cancerous in nature; a slow and insidious poison, its effects take years to be seen. Worse, murmuring discontent can also be very addictive.
Discontentment is an emotion that is capable of dwarfing us spiritually because it is directed against the Lord. If we are discontented with His will for us, then we're not going to grow in our faith.
Everyone struggles with discontentment at one time or another, and it’s particularly difficult when we are discontent with the church because no one can hurt a believer as deeply as a group of other believers.
“Indeed, how divided my heart has been and still is! I want to love God, but also to make a career. I want to be a good Christian, but also to have my success as a teacher, preacher, or speaker. I want to be a saint, but also enjoy the sensations of the sinner. I want to be close to Christ but also popular and liked by many people. No wonder that living becomes a tiring enterprise. The characteristic of a saint is, to borrow Kierkegaard’s words, ‘To will one thing.’ Well , I will more than one thing, am double-hearted, double-minded, and have very divided loyalty... You cannot follow him just a little bit. Everything or nothing.” - Henri NouwenDoes anyone struggle with this image of contentment?
I am not conceited, Lord,Shakespeare catches a bit of contentment in that it does not last long when we are all by ourselves. He tells us the story in The Comedy of Errors --
and I don’t waste my time
on impossible schemes. But I have learned to feel safe
and satisfied,
just like a young child
on its mother’s lap.
People of Israel,
you must trust the Lord now and forever. - Psalm 131
FIRST MERCHANT
Sir, I commend you to your own content.
FIRST MERCHANT exists
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ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
He that commends me to mine own content
Commends me to the thing I cannot get.
I to the world am like a drop of water
That in the ocean seeks another drop,
Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself.
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself.
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