The Cause of Discontent

“I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Contentment is something we learn, and this subject cannot be learned until we have first learned that there can be no contentment without commitment. Once we commit ourselves daily to the will of God, we have learned the secret of contentment. It’s not that we do not know the will of God; it’s the fact that many of us do not like the will of God, and that brings on discontentment. We are not content with who we are, where we are, what we're doing, and even the way we're doing it. Because of the simply reason we have not committed these things to God.

We cannot enjoy the present for the imagery we create in our minds of some fanciful future. C.S. Lewis writes: “Of unattainable longings, sour is the fruit.” Sometimes it is alright to say to ourselves, “This is it, and there “ain’t no more; and that’s O.K.” Along with this, we need to change our philosophy from, “It could be better” to “It could be worse.” Again I quote Lewis: “Nobody who gets food and clothing in a world where most are hungry and cold, has any business to talk about misery.”

“Commitment” and “contentment” are spelled differently, but they go together.