We come to this passage and we find that to be content is great gain. To put it another way, it is worth it to find contentment. If you had three choices; To be immediately happy, to be rich, or to be enduringly contented, which would you choose? If you are like most people you would choose to enjoy an enduring contentment. That kind of deep down, soul satisfying contentment that infuses your life with peace and serenity. That gives you the freedom and energy to express yourselves and follow your dreams despite what others may think, and allows you to fall asleep at night without worrying about what might have been.

The word contentment comes from the Greek work arkeo. Its primary means to be sufficient in oneself, in deed of nothing. It could be summed up in the concept of being self sufficient or self-reliant. Now, if taken by itself it could lead to a prideful sense of self-accomplishment. That’s where the Bible has transformed the meaning of this work. Only God can be self-sufficient, in need of nothing. But the Word of God says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God can so guide my life and fill me that His self-sufficiency becomes mine. God alone can empower us to be truly content. As such contentment, true contentment, should be link to holiness. All of what goes into contentment has been given to us through Christ.

I want to look at contentment and focus on some ways to increase our level of contentment. As a general rule, contentment will increase as you become more and more like Christ. I want to give some suggestions about how you can do that. How you can be all that God wants you to be.

Principal One: Contentment thrives when you say "I love you". That is pretty simple but it gets missed so often. All of us want to be loved. But contentment requires more than being loved, it requires being a loving person. You will not meet a person who is genuinely content who hasn’t a great capacity for loving other people deeply. In fact, not loving is one of the first things to go. When you are upset and not happy with the way things are going, who gets picked on? Usually your wife or children or brothers or family. We hurl at those closest to us. We fault on love, and let hatred take over.

When you are able to love others deeply your whole outlook on life changes. Jesus gave us a new command. To love others as he has loved us. Those words are not simply hot air. They are words that give us divine insight into God’s plan for our lives. If we want to know the peace that passes all understanding. If we want to be all that God wants us to be. If we seek true contentment and not just temporary happiness then we have got to learn to love others and express that love.

How do you love others as Christ loved us? I could preach weeks on this one point. But here are some ways. First, look out for the best interest of other people. Most of the time we are worried about ourselves. About what will make us look stupid or uncomfortable. Loving others seeks the best for the other person even when that puts you out a little bit. Jesus went to the cross, and that put him out a little bit. But it demonstrated his self-sacrificing love. A love that we need to learn to duplicate. It is not a feeling but an action. An action that is primarily designed to put the other person first. Phil 2:1-10. Have you been putting others first? Have you been phoning others? Praying for others? Meeting with others? Witnessing to others? Giving hugs? Saying "I love you"? Teaching others? Giving godly advice? Confessing to each other? Comforting one another? Rebuking one another? Accepting one another?

I want you to imagine a person who can’t say "I Love You." He can smile and joke and do other things but he can’t say "I love You." Nor can he give a good hug. He cares but it doesn’t come out. They love deeply but they can’t express it. They care but they aren’t good at showing it. What is a person like that like? Two words "emotionally insecure." They are generally discontent. They are afraid to open up and express emotions and love others because they are broken in the emotional department. They are practicing self-sufficiency but it is the wrong kind. They long for someone to love them but are often too controlling. They are scared of losing. They hurt deeply even if they have hidden it away. This person will never be content because he if failing to love others as Jesus loved us.

Now imaging a person who is all emotion. They love everyone and weep at the drop of a handkerchief. They hug and say "I love you" very easily. They can open up and talk about their problems like a trap door. The problem with these people is also emotional instability. The love and they love deeply but only when they are loved back. They don’t have the resources to love their enemies. In fact they may not even want to be around those who they don’t like. Love is there, but not the self-sacrificial love that Jesus talks about. This person wanders from good feeling to good feeling addicted to an acceptance high. But this person can’t stick it out through the hard times with someone who isn’t feeding his self-pity.

Now picture Christ. He loved everyone. His disciples were typical Christians who bickered with each other and sinned. Jesus committed to them and did what was right to get them to where God wanted them. He sacrificed himself but he is our model of contentment. Be like Christ, think like Christ, love and live like Christ and you will know deep lasting soul refreshing contentment. Fail to love and you will know only the short-lived highs the life gives everyone.

Have you loved this past week???????? Who have you sacrificed something for lately??? What have you done in the last week to show that you love others the way that Jesus loved you? Do you only love others who respect you or do you love others who are different than you and do things you dislike? Have you said "I love you" to everyone in your Church? Can You? What steps are you going to take to become a master at loving others? If you will master this one area of your life you will find true contentment for to love others is the fulfillment of the law.