Moving Closer to Contentment

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

                                     1 Timothy 6: 6-10 (NIV)

I love this quote by Benjamin Franklin,” It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it."
Contentment… I’m going to be really honest; this is not an area in which I specialize.  Often I’ll let myself get excited about a new toy and I’ll head on over to the store to take a look at it. I’ll read reviews and research and find just the right item to meet my needs. Even though I don’t buy with credit and I don’t go into debt, I still allow the purchase to consume me. Something that I hadn’t even thought of, just days or weeks before, now seems like a necessity; all because I cracked that catalog open. Picture me like the character from The Lord of the Rings saying, “My Precious, MY PRECIOUS.”
I love this quote by Benjamin Franklin,” It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it.”
Check out this great article on the blog Christian PersonalFinance. Joe Plemon writes a compelling article, Why You Should Be Happy With What You Have. Joe also writes at Personal Finance by The Book and is a financial coach, helping folks around the country plan for financial peace. You can catch up with him here.
My wife was shocked the other day when I came home to a new sporting goods catalog and said, “I think I have all the outdoors equipment I currently need.” It could mean that I have spent way too much time and effort acquiring "stuff" but hopefully it also means that I am inching closer to contentment.
A good friend of mine growing up shared that we all have a God shaped hole in our heart. We try and fill it with toys or relationships or money but it never seems full. Outdoors equipment won’t ever fill the hole in my heart, only the love of Christ will do.
What earthly things are you trying to fill the God shaped hole in your heart with?
Is there one desire that you could suppress that would put an end to all that follow?