We women got our
start with discontentment in the Garden of Eden, didn’t we? God gave Eve pick
of the garden and all of its delicious edibles, but Eve wasn’t content because
she wanted the one fruit that was off-limits.
I think we women have
a greater tendency to think the grass is always greener on the other side.
That’s a dangerous tendency that is a very slippery slope toward sin. One of my
children and I have an almost daily conversation about envy and jealousy. I am
teaching them that, when we see that someone else has something that we like,
we need to prevent jealous thoughts from taking root by saying a prayer and
thanking the Lord for blessing that person so richly.
I, like Paul, know
what it is to have plenty and what it is to be in want. I have learned the
secret to being content in all circumstances and that is sincere thankfulness,
not only for what I have been given, but for what others have been blessed with
as well. It’s an attitude of gratitude.
We had a big
discussion here a little while ago about personalities in husbands. We were
talking about Mr. Steady, Mr. Visionary, and Mr. Command Man. I think that many
women have a tendency to want their husbands to be a different personality type
than they are. If they have a more steady man, they wish they were more daring,
spontaneous, and bold. If they have a strong husband, they wish they were more
gentle and easy-going. If their husband is a wonderfully consistent and wise
man, they wish he was more creative and enterprising. We must be careful not to
let these thoughts take root or we will become embittered toward our men and
will open ourselves up for the enemy to gain a foothold. Emotional and
eventually physical adultery stem from discontentment in our marriages and husbands.
We must choose to
recognize that, if the Lord was the one who put our marriage together, He chose
our spouse for us to refine us and help us become more like Christ. The sooner
we accept this truth and develop a gratefulness for God’s plan in our marriage,
the more blessed we will become.
As John C. Maxwell
often says…
“Blessed are the
flexible, for they seldom get bent out of shape.”
Be content with such things as ye have:
for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5
*** This post was written by Thejoyfilledwife!
