Session 3:  Contentment …Handout

 Definition:

 Is it sinful or ungodly to have wealth or a wealth of things?  Does the possession of things and the quantity, thereof, determine contentment?

 The essence of contentment is not measured merely in tangible “things”.  What other elements of life play roles in our contentment?

 Is it a sin to want more?  Perhaps the better question is, “What is it that you really want?”

 Where is the boundary of “enjoyment of live” and what God has given us? 

 If contentment is learned, what are we learning?

§         Contentment is not based upon the possession of things, nor is it the presence or absence of emotional “stuff”, nor the absence or presence of conflict.

§         Contentment’s greatest synonym is joy.  Joy is defined as the “recognizing the enduring and sustaining presence of God in every situation.”

The Struggle:

Application:

Can we truly learn to be content?  What is at the core of contentment?  Can it not be that our understanding of joy and satisfaction in God has been so directly tied to what we want, instead of what He is trying to teach us that we have missed the real meaning of contentment?  Isn’t there a direct correlation between what we think of in terms of being happy and what contentment is?