Is it possible to be both content and discontent at the same time? The answer is yes.
Contentment comes from realizing that God has provided everything I need for my current happiness. The Bible gives us several direct commandments to be content with such things as we have. That’s because God wants us to find our real enjoyment in Him, not just in the things He blesses us with. Until we do, we’re tempted to spend all our time accumulating more and more stuff. When John D. Rockefeller was asked how much money it took to make a man happy he answered, “Just a little bit more.” Ben Franklin noted, “Content makes poor men rich; Discontent makes rich men poor.”
But in another sense, we need a healthy discontent to be more like the Lord and to do more for Him. Reaching a point of contentment in your walk with God leads to spiritual stagnation and backsliding.
Remember, learning how to be both content and discontent will redeem the time.
Rick Grubbs is best known as the host of “Redeeming the Time,” a one-minute radio program featured on hundreds of radio outlets around the world. He has spoken thousands of times on Biblical time management in all 50 states and 26 other countries. He is the author of the book “Morning Momentum: God’s plan for launching an unstoppable day”. He and his wife Carrie live in Salisbury NC with several of their 12 children.
