"In a sense we have come full circle in this study. We began by saying that we overcome covetousness by learning contentment. At the same time we acquire contentment only by putting covetousness to death. The mathematics of contentment requires this type of subtraction." With this last paragraph of the chapter we opened the evening. Peggie used this paragraph to point out that what we have been studying so far has been learning contentment, which is addition. Tonight, we would focus more on "putting covetousness to death" which is subtraction.
Our math teacher for the night was Peggie. She taught us a bit of addition and subtraction. The Lord was very good to multiply her energy since she was feeling a bit sick. Even though she felt like her thoughts were divided, it was a blessed time and by our calculations she seemed to be in prime condition.
I will summarize the evening with the three main topics. We discussed, "adding a burden of sin", "making our desires equal our circumstances" and "subtracting ungodly desires".
+ The author states that, "contentment comes by addition---namely, not getting rid of the burden of our situation but adding a new one." This new burden he speaks of is, sin. Some of us didn't care for the term, "burden". On our ride home, Peggie and I decided that we would summarize this section by saying that, "our sin should trouble us more than our circumstances do", and subtract the term, "burden", since it implies that we should carry a burden of sin, which Christ has done for us. Here is how the author sums up this section, "...when afflictions come, humility and recognition of sin put us in the best position to endure the hardship. If you want contentment, examine your heart and be weighed down by your sin."
_ "To find contentment we must subtract from desires so that our desires and our circumstances are even and equal." To illustrate this Peggie gave us a simple bar graph, one bar being our desires and the other being our circumstances. Our "desire bar" should never be higher than our "circumstances bar". If it is, it will lead to covetousness, lack of thanksgiving and discontent. So, if our bars are out of balance, what should we do? We should start by praying, focusing on the Lord's prayer for starters, guard our hearts and watch what we let into our minds. This led us to ask ourselves some questions, like, "do we feel we need to use that Kohl's coupon when it comes in the mail," or, "do we try to faithfully stick to our list at the market, only to have the newest pumpkin flavored yummy product jump up at us and tell us that we would be much happier if we were to purchase it"? Let's work on getting those bars to the right heights!
_ The last section can be summarized by this quote, "A contented Christian is one who has done radical internal surgery to root out the evil desires in his heart." What are the evil desires of our hearts? The author says they are the lusts and impure passions within us.
So, to sum it up, we need to be very aware of our sin and evil desires and seek to prayerfully mortify our sin...and this, ladies is one of the secrets to contentment.
Our math teacher for the night was Peggie. She taught us a bit of addition and subtraction. The Lord was very good to multiply her energy since she was feeling a bit sick. Even though she felt like her thoughts were divided, it was a blessed time and by our calculations she seemed to be in prime condition.
I will summarize the evening with the three main topics. We discussed, "adding a burden of sin", "making our desires equal our circumstances" and "subtracting ungodly desires".
+ The author states that, "contentment comes by addition---namely, not getting rid of the burden of our situation but adding a new one." This new burden he speaks of is, sin. Some of us didn't care for the term, "burden". On our ride home, Peggie and I decided that we would summarize this section by saying that, "our sin should trouble us more than our circumstances do", and subtract the term, "burden", since it implies that we should carry a burden of sin, which Christ has done for us. Here is how the author sums up this section, "...when afflictions come, humility and recognition of sin put us in the best position to endure the hardship. If you want contentment, examine your heart and be weighed down by your sin."
_ "To find contentment we must subtract from desires so that our desires and our circumstances are even and equal." To illustrate this Peggie gave us a simple bar graph, one bar being our desires and the other being our circumstances. Our "desire bar" should never be higher than our "circumstances bar". If it is, it will lead to covetousness, lack of thanksgiving and discontent. So, if our bars are out of balance, what should we do? We should start by praying, focusing on the Lord's prayer for starters, guard our hearts and watch what we let into our minds. This led us to ask ourselves some questions, like, "do we feel we need to use that Kohl's coupon when it comes in the mail," or, "do we try to faithfully stick to our list at the market, only to have the newest pumpkin flavored yummy product jump up at us and tell us that we would be much happier if we were to purchase it"? Let's work on getting those bars to the right heights!
_ The last section can be summarized by this quote, "A contented Christian is one who has done radical internal surgery to root out the evil desires in his heart." What are the evil desires of our hearts? The author says they are the lusts and impure passions within us.
So, to sum it up, we need to be very aware of our sin and evil desires and seek to prayerfully mortify our sin...and this, ladies is one of the secrets to contentment.
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