How to Have Christian Contentment

There is a great verse that says "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Why is it great gain? Because unless you can learn to be content, you will never have peace in life. Paul said in the New Testament that he LEARNED to be content in any and every situation, meaning it did not come naturally to him. Here are some tips on how to learn to be content.



Steps
Write an "I am Thankful for...." list every day. You can try to keep what I call a "Thankful Journal" of all the things you see God doing in your life. This will force you to focus on the positive rather than the negative. There is something about writing things out that God has blessed us with cements them in our minds more and makes us really see them better.
Watch less TV and movies. Commercials are the wrost for breeding contentment in us. We keep seeing things we don't have and the commercials tell us we should have them. But that is just their opinion. Just because someone selling you something says that you need it DOES NOT mean that you do. Less is more. As in, the less you can have and be happy with it, the more content you will be. :) In regards to movies, the more you watch, the more you may to want to look like the people you see in the movies. Disregard that. You are who you are and you cannot be anyone else. Accept who you are and stop trying to live up to the perfect images of Hollywood. God says that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made" just the way you are. Amen.

Remember to not love the world or anything in the world. John says that if anyone loves the world, the love of the father, or God, is not in them. The world wants you to have stuff or to look a certain way etc. Just ignore it all. That is not God's way. God's way to look beautiful is to have a good heart. God's way regarding stuff is to be willing to give all that you have away, not want to always get more.

Try fasting. Some think fasting is old school, but it can really help you to appreciate what you have more. You don't really, truly appreciate food until you force yourself to not eat for 24 hours. :) You can make it any amount of time that you want, but try it. It will change your life and how see you things in a huge way. :)

Learn to say no to yourself. Often times, we spoil ourselves way too much. Whatever we want, we give into that desire right away. Try delayed gratification. Try not always giving yourself what you want right away. Because the more you give in to your desires, the more insatiable your desires will become. If you feed the monster of desire, over anything, it will only grow bigger. You have to starve the monster of want and it will get smaller. Be a master over things you want, don't let things you want master you. :(


Tips
Try shopping as little as possible. The more you go to stores, the more you want things that you don't need. Always make a shopping list and stick to it. Don't do impulse buys. Practice self-control when buying things etc.
If you know you struggle with eating junk food, stop buying junk food. It's as simple as that. Determine that you will be content with eating more healthy foods and you will be. )

Stop trying to please people or doing what they think you should do. That will only make you more discontent with yourself. Ignore all the critics and do what you feel God would want you to do. Only God's opinion is what matters in the end.