This is not to say that I should just throw up my hands and stop trying to influence the world for good because it's all got to pot anyways. As a Christian, I am told to endure despite my circumstances. To have hope, when everything seems hopeless in this world (John 16:33) and to never tire of doing good (2 Thess 3:13). Endure, endure, endure - in all things endure.
I am also told to be content with my circumstances (Philippians 4:11-12). Contentment and endurance are to co-exist within my heart and my life. This brought about an interesting realization for me - what does it look like to endure and to be content? How does one effect the other?
So often, when I picture "enduring" it conjurers images of oh-poor-me-martyrdom and pushing through difficult circumstances (
How often could I avoid feeling like I have to endure something when, if I was just content in the first place, a lot of those "problems" that I have to "endure" wouldn't even be considered as problems by my contented heart? Example: Contentment means being satisfied with what you have (Hebrews 13:5), so if I lived with that kind of contentment, I would no longer have to "endure" many of the financial stresses I face. I wouldn't have to "endure" my job if I was just content in the fact that I have one. If I am content, my "hardships" become relative and many of them disappear, leaving less things to endure.
Q4U- Has there been a time when you had to endure a trying circumstance that could have been lessened by a spirit of contentment?
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