Daily Success
Institute in Basic Life Principles

Command 31 : Beware of Covetousness | Day 212

Learn to Be Content!

I recently received a very sad report from a friend whom I had not heard from for many years. He had become a believer at a Basic Seminar and desired to follow the Lord with all of his heart. God blessed him with a wonderful wife and many children. God also blessed him with an excellent job that allowed him to buy a beautiful home and acquire significant assets. He continued to grow in his relationship with the Lord and sought to lead his family in the ways of the Lord. However, he never learned one vital quality—contentment.

If we are not content with what we have, we will not be happy with what we want.

This friend began spending more and more time away from his home and family in order to make more money. Consequently, his wife was left with the sole responsibility of addressing the spiritual needs in their children's lives. When the children were uncooperative, he became impatient and harsh in his discipline.

In order to further increase his assets, he decided to enter into a business partnership with a person he trusted. When this individual mismanaged the company, my friend tried to save it by borrowing money against his home. However, his attempts were unsuccessful, and his losses totaled close to a million dollars. Today, he has no home, no assets, and no job.

The bigger tragedy is what happened in the lives of his children. When they didn't find leadership and acceptance in their father, they began looking for it in other places and are now experiencing the consequences of unwise marriages and associations with the world. When I asked him what he would do differently if he had another chance he said, "I would stay home with my family more, be patient with my children, and be a better manager of my resources."

We are not born with contentment. It must be learned. Adam and Eve failed to be content even in a perfect environment.

Scripture tells us that “godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Timothy 6:6). Contentment comes as we realize that God has provided everything we need and as we express our gratefulness to Him. Tragically, because my friend's focus was on getting more instead of enjoying what he had, he damaged his family relationships and lost his beautiful home and other provisions God had given him.

Contentment and gratefulness are inseparable. When we daily recognize all that God has given to us and express our gratefulness to Him, we will have no reason to be discontent and seek after things that we do not need or that God does not want us to have.

Are we demonstrating contentment by expressing gratefulness to God and others? A good way for a father to learn contentment is by letting each member of his family know that he is grateful to God for them and then praising them often for their Godly attitudes and actions. Let's make a concerted effort to conquer covetousness by learning contentment.

“… Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).

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Contributing writer: Bill Gothard