How you see the world often depends on the lens you are looking through. If you are looking for the negative things in life, you will surely find them. In that situation, the negative will tend to be what you emphasize. However, if you are content with life, you will tend to overlook some of the negatives.
When Matthew held a party, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were watching. They were looking for negative things about Jesus because they didn’t like him. They found a problem with those who Jesus was associating with. They didn’t understand that those they considered deplorable could change and Jesus was there to bring that change.
Instead of being happy that people were being saved, they complained bitterly. Their big complaint was how a person like Jesus could eat with people that were scum. Instead of seeing the glass half full, the teachers of the religious leaders and Pharisees saw it as half empty.
The Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:11-13 teaches us about the importance of being content. His words are just as true today as when he wrote them. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. [1]
When we are content in life everything unfolds in a different way. We begin to look for the good instead of the bad. We look at the glass as half full instead of half empty. In the worst situation Paul put the best construction on it. We all can learn from these verses.
For the first 25 years of my life I was a very thin person because that is the way the Lord made me. I was self-conscious about being so thin and just wanted to look like the other kids. At a very young age the Lord used this a life lesson to teach me about being content with who you are. Learning this as a child has turned out to be very helpful as an adult.
Paul says he has learned to be content in the good and the bad, in the times of abundance and the times of want, because he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. I think the key word here is that Paul learned, and it’s possible for us to learn as well. Part of being content is willing to let God teach you and work through you wherever you are at the moment.
Prayer: Heavenly Father forgive me at times I am not content and see the glass as only half full. Change my heart O Lord to enable me like Paul to be content in whatever situation I find myself. Amen.
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[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Php 4:11–13). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.