Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.
-  Benjamin Franklin

Many confuse contentment with complacency. If you are complacent you are willing to stay in a bad situation and suffer and accept so with a positive attitude.  If you are content you are at the center of Gods will and are willing to go where he takes you.  A happy life certainly involves contentment.  How content are you?

With all of the advertisers deliberately trying to create dissatisfaction in our lives.  Whenever we turn on the TVs, radios, or read the newspaper or magazines we see campaigns in action to disturb your way of life.  Many advertisements purposely try to create perceived problems so that you need their product to solve this “new” problem. Here is the greatest version of our product; it will make the other one obsolete.  You need a new car, a new outfit, a new life.  Advertisements try to prevent you from being content.

It is the same way with our financial situation.  Dave came into my office and wanted to pull out his entire retirement nest egg and send it overseas.  He was not content in the amount of money he had saved for retirement.  He only had ten years left and need to “pour fuel, to the fire”.  His answer was to take substantial risk to expedite his portfolio.  He recently had received an online advertisement to send his funds overseas for a high, guaranteed rate of return.  If it looks too good to be true, it is.  This internet fraud was not only after Dave, but had bilked over $12,000,000 form unsuspecting investors.  Always check with a financial advisor you trust before making a big move and never send money outside of the country will out having a professional do due diligence for you.

Passage Hebrews 13:5:
5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”

What areas do you need help finding contentment?

Do you find yourself needing the latest and greatest new items?

Do you make impulsive spending decisions?