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TRUE SATISFACTION
March 9, 2008 Jay Davis Robison 1 TIMOTHY 6:6-12
A typical market in US in 1976 stocked 9,000 items;
today that same market carries 30,000 different items.
Why? Because have obsessive compulsion to possess more & more
In America we have more of everything except SATISFACTION
There is a palatable discontent in US spirit of discontentedness.
Don Jaques As a rule, man’s a fool. When it’s hot, he wants it cool.
And when it’s cool, he wants it hot, Always wanting what is not.
Rodney Buchanan on satisfaction in I AM REALLY CONTENT...
I am really content until I start looking through the Sears catalogue.
I liked my car — until I saw the new ones.
I am satisfied w\my clothes until I stroll through the Mall stores.
I love our home — until I think of what it would be like to own a
log cabin on the shore of some remote lake.
I am satisfied with every area of my life until I start comparing
with someone else’s life.
I feel I have enough of everything until see someone who has more.
True satisfaction is a rare thing in today’s world
Constantly grabbing for more
How do we find it? 1 Timothy 6:6-12 3 suggestions
1. Be a THEMOSTAT not a THERMOMETER
Some people are thermometers and some are thermostats
Thermometers measure temperature, thermostats set temperature
Have you ever asked someone how they were doing and they said
Okay under the circumstances
Believers in Jesus should never live under the circumstances
Should be spiritual reality in us makes us look at life differently
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. Vs 6 NKJV
Paul was in prison when he wrote this without many friends
When the going gets rough
Some become bitter Luke 10:38-42 Martha was bitter
Some become burdened with heavy heart Ps 102:7
Some become selfish Elijah 1 Kings 19:10 Woe is me
I have learned the secret of being content in every situation Phil 4:12
This kind of contentment secret most people never learn
Content= TO BE COMPLETELY SUFFICIENT, FULFILLED,
SATISFIED, COMPLETE
Everyone person strives for contentment.
We all want to be fulfilled, complete, satisfied, self-sufficient.
But when we look around, this is not what we see.
See a society and a world discontented, unfulfilled, incomplete,
dissatisfied, empty, lonely, and restless as they can be.
Why? Because people are thermometers not thermostats
Shakespeare’s Henry the 6th tells of a king wandering the country
Meets 2 men tells them he is a king if you a king where is crow
King said My crown is in my heart & not on my head, Not decked with diamonds & Indian stones Nor to be seen, my crown is called content A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy
Most believe secret of contentment is found in $$ and possessions.
Reason I’m never content is I don’t have a better paying job.
If I had a bigger house… I’d be content.
Look for God’s ACTIVITY IN YOUR LIFE
Remember this God does not have step children
No second choice kids in God’s eyes, something for all of us
Question is are we open to God’s activity in our lives
Takes us opening up to God spending time with God
Remember Paul in prison writing about contentment
Contentment arises in gratitude toward God for blessings
Not being mad at God because don’t have more
Being thankful for what we have
God uses DISCONENTEMENT to bring about GROWTH
Discontentment causes us to grow and change
Step on scale don’t like that, look after weight
Pain in relationship, seek to grow in it or get out of it
2. Settle THE MONEY QUESTION
God knows how important $$ is, why God talks about it often
God also knows our protection of possessions can get extreme
Carjacking was foiled in a Northern Virginia Shopping Mall.
An elderly grandmother was given a gun by her son for protection.
One day after she did her shopping she returned to car where she
found four white males seated inside.
She dropped her shopping bags drew her handgun, & screamed at
top of her lungs I have a gun & know how to use it: get out of car.
The four men hopped out and ran like mad, lady proceeded to load
her shopping bags into back of the car & get into the drivers seat.
She had small problem, her key wouldn’t fit ignition. After looking
realized her car identical & parked 4 or 5 spaces farther down.
She loaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station.
Sergeant to she told the story doubled over in laughter pointed to other end of counter, where four pale white males
were reporting a carjacking by a mad elderly white woman.
Paul says to Timothy settle the money Question remember
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. . Vs 10 NKJV
Not just "$$" that’s root of all kinds of evil but "the love of money."
Not the amount that makes a difference love $$ and have none
Or be millionaire with right attitude
Hurt ourselves when we try to get it by any means possible
Then wandering away from God only source of true meaning.
Vs 7 we brought nothing into world take nothing out in end
either our $$ is taken from us by death or given by us to others
Vs 8 if God has blessed you with food & clothing be thankful
Remember we said source of contentment is gratitude
Possessions can be like DRINKING SEA WATER
Roman proverb wealth like sea water more one has more one wants
$$ brings a level of security but also a level of anxiety more to lose
Dr. Marty Seligman Psychology Prof Univ of Pa studied depression.
Found there has been a sharp increase in depression since WW II.
People born after 1945 are 10 Xs more likely to suffer depression
Strange today have more possessions & life is more comfortable.
Seligman noted on you do not find much depression as we know it
in non-Westernized cultures before they were modernized.
Most primitive cultures do not show many cases of depression.
Amish of Lancaster, Pa had depression occurring at roughly 1/5
the rate it occurred among the people of Baltimore.
Seligman people caught up in almost complete self-centeredness.
So focused on getting what they want that it leads to unhappiness
More we have the more we want, & more unhappy we become!
Jesus said Luke 12:15 “A man’s life does not consist of the
abundance of things he has.”
Satisfaction when settle $$ question
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith
and pierced themselves with many griefs. Vs 10b TNIV
How we handle possessions directly affects our relationship w\ God.
Possessions are a major competitor w\God for control of our lives.
Phil 3:18-19 For many walk, . . now tell you even weeping, that
they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is
destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their
shame, who mind earthly things"
45 year old man sat crying in a pastor’s office. For last 20 yrs he had
grabbed and fought for success. Up corporate maze he ran, never
asking why, never observing how he hurt his wife or kids,
never realizing he didn’t know them, never admitting that he was
destroying his own body with the stress and constant work.
Now he is in the pastor’s office crying his eyes out.
Wife left him. Kids are grown and have nothing to do with him
because they don’t know him.
Suddenly his financial assets and career mean nothing.
He is alone in the world. Nothing means anything. He is alone,
cut off from his loved ones, living in a hollowness of life apart
from meaningful attachments to family or God."
You could apply story to farmers, lawyers, doctors, & even pastors.
All of us can get so caught up in being driven by the addiction for
financial success, or fame, or importance, that we can loose sight
of those relationships that truly give meaning and purpose to life.
William Boice Lord, I was reading the story of the rich young ruler
& his wrong choice. Then I got to thinking. No matter how much
$$ he had, could not ride in a car, have any surgery, turn on light
buy penicillin, watch TV, never had running water mow a lawn
log on internet, fly in airplane, talk on phone. if he rich, what am I?
Why matter so important Jesus said
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love
the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24 TNIV
Aseop fable "When a dog which had stolen a piece of meat out of a
butcher’s shop, was crossing a river on its way home,
he saw his own shadow reflected in the stream below.
Thinking that it was another dog with another piece of meat, he
decided to make himself master of that also; but in snapping at
the supposed treasure, he dropped the meat he was carrying,
and so went away empty handed."
God does not excuse LAZINESS AND CARELESSNESS
If you think then I should not pay any attention to $$
Got the wrong idea, sin is love of $$
Deal is not amount but attitude
Sin is if we ignore how we handle possessions
Not just love of money but also being careless with it sin
Passage says nothing against being industrious but a warning against reckless pursuit of material things those who have $$ as their goal are easy prey for Satan craving for $$ takes us away
John Stott Christianity Today Comfort is dangerous, we should constantly be re-examining our lifestyle. NT is beautifully balanced Asceticism is a rejection of the good gifts of the good Creator. Opposite is materialism not just possessing material things, but becoming preoccupied or possessed w\them.
Balance is in spiritual walk with God Giving possessions important but not ultimate importance Hebrew 13:5 Let your conversation [behavior] be wi\out covetousness; be content with what you have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"
3. Character COUNTS SO MAKE YOURS COUNT
Friday 3 former CEOs testifying before senate committee, Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial Corp.; Stanley O’Neal, formerly of Merrill Lynch & Co; and Charles Prince, formerly of Citigroup Inc.;
Forbes magazine CEO pay averaged $15.2 million in largest 500 U.S. companies in 2006, an increase of 38 percent in one year. 3 CEOs companies losing billions & stock values plunging.
Committee figures showed that Countrywide suffered a $1.2 billion loss in 3rd quarter of 2007 & then lost another $422 million in 4th. By end of year stock had fallen 80% its 5-year peak in Feb. During same period, Mozilo received $1.9 M salary, $20 M in stock sold $121 million in stock.
O’Neal received retirement package of $161 M when pushed out of Merrill Lynch CEO last October. During 2007, the firm reported $18 billion in losses related to subprime & other risky mortgages.
Lawmakers asked why Citigroup, which saw stock fall 48% in 1 yr gave Prince $10.4 M cash when he stepped down as CEO last Nov. Also received $28 M in stock options & $1.5 M for leaving
Several of executives did acknowledge public resentment over fact that large company CEOs now receive about 600 times what the average worker earns, compared to about 40 times in 1980.
Is it just me or is there something wrong with that? Something unjust and lewd about taking advantage in such a way Imagine what would have been different if 1 CEO had said I won’t take all you are offering to me I cannot do this and hurt others
Character matters to find real satisfaction make character count It does matter what we do with our life It is worth the effort to be a positive example for others
It’s an inside job when we commit ourselves to what matters Satisfaction comes from seeking God being focused look at Vs 11 Timothy, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance and gentleness. Vs 11 TNIV
Be aimed at r-ness godliness faith love endurance & gentleness Righteousness does not mean being perfect living right Godliness do others see God in you especially those closest to you Faith growing stretching toward God seeking to be more loving, endurance stick with it Gentleness respect toward others
Imagine what a difference if CEOs lived by this If politicians lived aiming for these things If husbands and wives lived this way toward each other
Would it be easy? For them, or me or you? Look at Vs 12 TNIV Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.
What we are talking about here is change in our hearts
Wealth will make you more of what you already are. Dave Ramsey
Make ourselves something worth being Created to have relationships with people and God
But I’ve got to tell you, that doesn’t happen without a decision.
If you just drift along, there is enough pressure & influence from
society advertising inner greed, things will soon occupy our focus. We need to make a decision that I’m not buying into it anymore.
I don’t need those things to make me happy, because they aren’t
going to anyway. I will not serve things, I will serve the Lord.
I will focus on that which is most important. And I will rearrange
my activities to match that new priority.
“Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.” (Proverbs 16:8, ESV)
