(Presented by Lisa Bishop)

Are you content with your job, your relationships, your living circumstances, your life?

I recently read an article in Psychology Today entitled, “The Secret to a Contented Life.”  In a nutshell it said that contentment comes from unconditional self-acceptance. As a follower of Jesus, you and I know the secret is not to “love yourself more.” We share with the Apostle Paul in having the true secret to contentment and that’s why we’ll look at what I call the four D’s of living a contented life. But before we do, let's remind ourselves of Paul’s profound words in Philippians:

…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:11b-13).

When I studied this passage several years ago the word that stood out to me was, “learned.” Whenever you read Scripture, look for repeated words. That means the author is trying to get your attention and make a point. Here Paul uses the word “learned” two times. In the Greek it means, “to learn by use and practice, to be in the habit of, accustomed to.”

I think this is where a lot of us can get tripped up and discouraged. We want contentment just to come, when in fact it is hard work and something we often have to practice over and over again and fight for. Which seems counterintuitive, but we live in a world where we are bombarded with messages that this car, that job, that outfit, that spouse will make you happy. And while we ultimately know it’s not true, we can fall into the fleeting trap of believing contentment can be found “out there somewhere.” With some particular need or desire being met, when really it is a state of mind and a state of being satisfied in Christ. Contentment is not a quick fix, it’s learned. Where are you lacking contentment?

It is a bit of a paradox, I recognize, to be both contented and not contented. Maybe it’s helpful to say we should accept who we are but never settle for where we are. Have you discovered that when you are not happy with who you are, you inflict great suffering on yourself? It causes you to be envious of others, to resent the success of others, to fight to get ahead of others, to be dependent on the approval of others. All kinds of problems arise when you cannot accept who you are.

Have you come to that place yet, where you can truly say, "I like the way God has created me"? Oh, I hope so. It is not prideful to appreciate God's handiwork in you. Rather it brings glory to God, just as when you appreciate a work of art you bring honor to the artist.

Today I want to point out three additional areas where we need to learn to accept but not settle.

Your Gifts and Talents

Have you accepted the way God has gifted you? The Bible clearly teaches us that each believer has been given definite and recognizable gifts or talents, which are resources to use in serving the Lord. First Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 are good chapters to study if you're not familiar with these gifts.

Once you know how God has gifted you, then accept that role you've been given with great joy. The things God has gifted you to do are the things that make you the happiest and bring the most satisfaction. You'll find great joy when you're functioning the way God created you to.

For example, if you have the gift of encouragement, your greatest joy will be to write notes, help someone out, listen to a heartache—lots of things like that which an encourager does so well. It won't be a chore or a duty because it's your gift; it will be a delight.

If your gift is administration, you'll love organizing and doing all the behind-the-scenes things that are so important. If your gift is mercy, you will naturally have a sympathetic heart toward hurting people and find yourself trying to help them.

Using your God-given gifts and talents will bring you satisfaction, and you will do those things with enthusiasm and excellence.

But here's the other side of the coin: Never be satisfied with your gifts the way they are. Jesus told a parable about three people who were given talents to use. One had five talents, one two talents and one had only one. When the master returned and demanded an accounting as to how each one used his talents, he gave strong approval to the first two because they multiplied their talents. But to the man with only one, he gave a grave condemnation because he hid his talent and did not multiply it. You’ll find that parable in Matthew 25.

What Jesus taught us there is that when we use the gifts and talents he has given us, he will give us more. I've been amazed to see this in my own life. I'm telling you, years ago I could never have imagined being able to do some of the ministries and new ideas God has allowed me to be involved with. But God is true to his word, and when we start using the talent we have, God is faithful to give us more and increase our effectiveness.

So, accept the talents and gifts God has invested in you, and then set out to grow them as much as possible. You do that by using them any way you can. Jump in the water and get wet. Often I'm asked how I began my ministry, which is now heard on over 400 radio stations internationally and reaches out in many other ways. Well, it began in my home in Chicago over thirty-five years ago as a Bible study for five or six women. That Bible study lasted several years, and to this day is one of the sweetest, best memories I have.

From that I started a small ministry at my church and became involved in other ministries there, serving in various ways. And much to my amazement, the doors opened until now we have a much bigger out...

Do you know how to be a good complainer? I want to show you how to complain. For sure, life is full of things we don’t like, things that aren’t good, and sometimes we just need to complain. Well, here’s how to do it.

In Psalm 142:1-2, David said "I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble."

King David had some genuine complaints, but he knew where to go with them. He poured them out before the Lord. Do you take your complaints to the Lord and actually verbalize them to him? You should, because he understands you, he cares about you, he's always there to listen, and he has answers. Instead of complaining to everyone around you, why not tell the one person who invites you to bring all your cares and problems to him, because he cares for you?

I notice as David spelled out his complaint to God, he heard his own words, and that led him back into right thinking. He says in verse 5 and 7a, "I cry to you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living...Set me free from my prison that I may praise your name."

I find that when I pour out my complaints to God, I start to gain perspective and I realize that they're not as big as I thought they were. I also realize that I'm a captive to my own complaining spirit, and once I see that, then God can set me free from that prison of griping and complaining.

Philippians 2:14 says we are to do everything without complaining or arguing. But listen to the great benefits of practicing this biblical principle: "... so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” (Philippians 2:15-16a). We will shine like stars and show others Jesus as we learn to do everything without complaining.

What a great testimony Christians would have especially in the marketplace if we truly took our complaints to the Lord—to him only—and replaced our complaining spirits with his joy and peace.

How do we get rid of the bad habit of complaining? I’ve given you four effective ways to cure the contagious disease of complaining in your life and they’re not hard to do. You just have to remember to do them; pray about them; seek God’s help to remember not to complain, and then watch the transformation in your own life when you are no longer a complainer!

Let me give you one more really good cure for complaining:

Learn to practice the 24-hour rule.

What is the 24-hour rule, you ask?  It’s simple: When you’re starting to complain and you’re getting frustrated or impatient, ask yourself this one question: What difference will this make in 24 hours? And then, the rule is that if it doesn’t make a real difference in 24 hours, you are not allowed to complain about it.

I promise you, from my own life experience, that this will go a long way toward curing the complaining disease. A great majority of what you and I complain about today won’t matter at this same time tomorrow. When I began to practice this rule, I was a complainer. I was travelling a lot and I found much to complain about with late airplanes, poor customer service, bad hotels—and so I complained, both verbally and in my own mind. Of course, my complaining didn’t change anything, it just made me a miserable person. I suffered from this disease of complaining but I also passed it on to others, I’m sure, because complaining is a very contagious disease.

That’s when I got smart and began to practice this 24-hour rule—and I do so to this day. I talk to myself and make myself obey the 24-hour rule—if it doesn’t matter in 24 hours, don’t complain about it. I challenge you to try it. I think it will work for you too.

These five cures for complaining that I’ve given you are biblically based principles that will truly help you to become a more joyful, pleasant person, and you will be a better representative of Jesus Christ in every area of your life—and most especially where you work.

Can you think of someone you know who you would describe as a negative, complaining person? I’m guessing you probably can, but here’s the harder question: Would people who know you put you in that category of a habitual complainer?

Well, even if you’re not totally consumed with complaining, you may have allowed a complaining spirit to creep into your mind and heart. I’m talking about how to cure the contagious disease called complaining.

I gave you two important cures: Make thanksgiving a part of your everyday routine and adjust your expectations. I want to add a couple more suggestions:

Stop trying to control the uncontrollable.

Control freaks like me get very focused on fixing things and setting things straight. But one of the best gifts you can give yourself is to let go of that drive to control the uncontrollable. When you think about it, there’s not a whole bunch of things in life you can control except yourself, is there?  But my guess is that a lot of your complaining is probably about the uncontrollable things and people in your life. What a futile exercise that is! Here’s a good thought to keep in mind: If you will control the controllable—namely you—you will be able to cope with the uncontrollable. And you’ll stop complaining about all those things beyond your control. It will make a difference.

Let go of yesterday and tomorrow.

Much of the complaining you hear every day is about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. Jesus told us that we are not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. He reminded us that each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34). And yesterday is past history; you can never change it, so complaining about either yesterday or tomorrow is a pointless exercise. Live in today; focus on making today as good as you can, so you won’t have anything to complain about it tomorrow!

Don’t you think that we often allow ourselves to get into the complaining pit without even realizing it, and before we know it, we’ve caught that destructive disease. But there is a cure and if you and I will just change a few of our bad habits, and ask God to help us, we can be set free from complaining.

Would you like to stop complaining? I have a message of great hope for you. You can be set free from the curse of complaining; you don’t have to continue to suffer from this very contagious disease. In fact, if you are a Christ-follower, you have been given a clear directive to get rid of complaining in your life.

Philippians 2:14 puts it very simply: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.”

I pointed out that complaining can be addictive, and it can cause you real mental and physical problems. There is no doubt that you would be much better off if you would get rid of complaining, and because it is a contagious disease, everyone around you would be better off as well.

So, how do you cure complaining? I have five powerful cures to give you.

Make thanksgiving a part of your everyday routine.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we read, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  It is God’s will that you become a thankful person; so put it on your to-do list; add it to your daily schedule. Thank God intentionally and continually throughout your day. And please make sure you begin each day with thankfulness. Make the first words out of your mouth—even the first thoughts in your head each morning—words and thoughts full of thanksgiving.

You’ll probably have to train yourself to do this, if you’ve been in complaint mode very long. It is replacing bad habits with good habits, but if you are a Christ-follower, you have a mandate to give thanks in all circumstances, so I would just say, get with the program starting today.

Adjust your expectations.

If you’ve been expecting life to be fair and easy and you live under the assumption that everyone should march in your parade and do what you think they should do, you have unrealistic expectations. So, adjust to the fact that you don’t have a perfect job, a perfect mate, a perfect child, a perfect church. Life is just plain messy and it’s not fair. And if you’ve been thinking that life owes you a smooth journey, throw those thoughts out and determine to focus on the good things in your life instead of majoring on the negative ones.

Remember, don’t complain about anything today.

Have you ever thought about the consequences of complaining? I mean, don’t most people consider complaining their right? Surely there’s something in our Constitution about free speech which says we have the right to complain about anything or anyone at any time—right?  In fact, anyone who doesn’t complain on a somewhat regular basis must not be normal! That’s how lots of people look at it.

Well, I want to talk about this contagious disease called complaining, and I want to give you the antidote—the cure—for complaining. Here’s the facts about this very common and widespread disease: It affects your brain and your physical health in negative ways. When you indulge in complaining, it brings on a sense of sadness or melancholy, and causes real dissatisfaction with your life.

There’s real proof that negative stress like complaining can also exacerbate chronic health problems, such as diabetes or asthma. It literally can increase your headaches, your joint pain, and be a major cause of depression.

Now, I’m not talking about ignoring the negative issues of life. We don’t live in a perfect world, and we have to confront negative people and situations for the purpose of finding relief and solutions. So, I’m not suggesting that you “put on a happy face” and pretend nothing’s wrong. But I am advocating a change in your attitude toward complaining. I hope to convince you—if you are not already convinced—that complaining does you more harm than good and it is a contagious disease that causes lots of problems for lots of people.

And, of course, the more important issue is that it keeps you from the joy that is yours when you are rightly related to Jesus Christ, by grace through faith, and you have chosen to follow Christ. The Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength; habitual complaining destroys your joy and saps your energy, slowing you down and keeping you from doing what God put you here to do.

But the good news is, we can cure this disease of complaining when we turn to the Lord for help and follow his principles. So, would you like to be set free from complaining?  Have you allowed it to have a place in your life so long that it is now almost an addiction?  Well, there’s hope for you.

Do you sometimes feel like you're pulled in two directions? It’s understandable if you do, because we know from the Bible that as believers we are to accept who we in Christ and be content with the way God has designed us. We know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves to others and envy who they are or what they have. We know we are each specially created by God like no one else and we should appreciate his handiwork in us.

But on the other hand, if you’re like me, you also know there are many things about yourself that you should not just accept. We all have blemishes and defects and areas of failure. We look at others who seem to have it much more together than we do and feel we should be like them. In other words, we know there is much room for improvement and needed maturity in some areas.

So, our dilemma is: How do we accept who we are when who we are is not all we should be? How can you believe that you’re really special just the way you are when you know, as I do, that you’re a long way from completion?

It almost seems like mission impossible. It appears to be a paradox with no solution. On the one hand we’re admonished to rejoice and celebrate who we are and on the other hand, we’re daily aware of our inadequacies and shortcomings.

Well, here's what I'm coming to understand: I truly must accept and be contented with who I am and rejoice in how God has created and gifted me. But I want to have a holy discontentment with where I am in my growth and maturity. Contentment and lack of contentment at the same time. Or you could say, accepting who I am but not settling for where I am. As God has given me this new understanding, it has greatly helped to clear up my misunderstandings and apprehensions. I can do both at one time—accept and appreciate who I am in Christ and continually strive to grow more and more into what I was created to be.

Let's look at some specific areas where we often have difficulty accepting who we are, but where we must also never settle for less than we can be.

Your Body

The Bible says that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139: 13-14). God fashioned us in our mother's womb, and he knew us before we were born. So, we should accept and be contented with how God's hands made us and formed us because God doesn't make mistakes.

Do you have negative eyesight? You know what I mean? When you look in the mirror, do you see only  the negatives? Do any of these kind of thoughts plague you often:

Oh, this hair; if only it were shorter or longer or thicker or thinner or blonde or brunette.

Oh, this face; if I just had higher cheek bones, or could get rid of this double chin, or had a smaller nose.

Oh, this body; if only I had longer legs, or thinner thighs, or smaller hips, or some kind of waistline!

Now, tell the truth, don't we often tend to focus on the negatives.

In our society we've been led to think that the thin, shapely female body is the only acceptable one. And I don't have to tell you the damage we've done to ourselves by swallowing this line of thinking. Anorexia and bulimia are two modern-day serious problems some women have because of their obsession with trying to make their bodies perfect.

I want to encourage you to be contented with the body God has given you. God has his purposes for your body just the way he created it. I think of my dear friend, Fran, who is now with Jesus. She was just barely five feet tall. All her life she was the shortest one around. But you know, God used her size to enlarge her ministry. You see, because she was short and cute, her appearance was rarely threatening or intimidating to anyone. It made it easy for her to make friends—and she made friends with everybody. In two seconds she would have you laughing and know all about you and you would love h...

I've been talking about how to be content in a job you hate. Notice I didn't say "with" a job you hate, but "in" a job you hate. I believe there are times when you should actively pursue another job or another career, when the right thing to do is find a place to work which uses your abilities better or get more education so you can advance to better jobs, or simply find a better working environment.

But if you're in a job you hate, however long you are going to be in that job, as a Christian, you should learn to be content in that job. The Apostle Paul said he learned to be content in any circumstance, and he was in some very bad situations. If he can learn contentment, so can we.

Let me tell you the story of a woman in Wisconsin who found herself in a job she hated. It is a manufacturing job with repetitive and boring duties. She graduated from college with very good grades but found herself in this job that was beneath her.

Finally, after hearing my message on “The Freedom of a Captive Mind,” she decided to change her attitude about that job and to think of it as her mission field. She began reprogramming her mind with Scripture, memorizing verses on the job, and singing songs of praise in that factory job.

Her co-workers noticed the change in her. They began to ask her to sing her songs, and many times she was able to share the Scripture she was memorizing in conversations with different individuals. She started praying for her co-workers, and they began to come to her with their needs and ask her to pray for them.

She was able to lead one of her co-workers to know Jesus as her Savior and has touched the lives of all who work with her. Yes, the work is boring, but it gives her time to memorize Scripture while working and that has been a wonderful healing process in her own life. She has found contentment in a job she hated because she has seen it through the eyes of eternity, and asked God to use her there. He is.

I challenge you to ask God to change your attitude and make you content right where you are, so that you are a light shining in darkness in that corner of the world.

(Click here to download the devotional for the entire week.)

If you find yourself in a job you don’t like, you need to know that you can learn to be content right where you are. And when you learn that, you are in a win-win situation, because you no longer allow yourself to be a victim of your job circumstances.

If you want to learn to be content with that job you hate, ask God what he has to teach you through it. Have you gone to God and said, "Lord, I'm in a job I hate and I can't get out. Why am I here? What are you trying to teach me or do through me in this job?"

You remember Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers and treated unfairly and cruelly by his captors, wrongly imprisoned for two years for doing the right thing. Then God delivered him from that prison and he became second in command to the Pharaoh (Genesis 37-41).

Joseph said of his bad experience that his brothers meant harm to him when they sold him into slavery, but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). Joseph allowed God to turn a terrible experience into a blessing. But please note that God was able to turn it into a blessing because Joseph was willing to let him.

God may have you in that job you hate because he has a blessing there for you, but because of your attitude, he can't work that blessing for you yet. If Joseph had gotten bitter or remained angry or been rebellious, he would probably would have just rotted in that prison.

Are you rotting in your miserable job because you haven't given God permission to use it in your life for good? Believe me, there are miracles waiting for you in that job you hate, if you will in humility make up your mind to work for God and seek his reward and look for the good that God wants to do for you and through you right where you are.

You'll know contentment even in a miserable job if you have that attitude in you. It's the attitude that Jesus had when he was willing to leave heaven and come to earth to die for us. Surely it was a job he didn't relish, but he knew God would work redemption through it, and so he submitted to the good that God wanted to do by sending him to a job he did not enjoy.