How Can I Cultivate True Contentment in a "More, More, More" World?

Welcome back to your Daily, financially Confident Christian. I'm Ralph and I'm so glad you chose to join me today as we continue to answer that big question. How can I become a financially confident Christian? And we're building a foundation in our new series that we started a couple days ago called Beyond the Budget, finding Financial Freedom Through Intentional Living. We're talking all about how to live intentionally and find that financial freedom.

And yesterday we talked about how intentional living is about purpose and not deprivation. I hope you checked it out. If you didn't, I'm gonna encourage you to go listen to that again. Because I really nailed it yesterday about how living intentionally is not about deprivation. Today I want to go and talk about something even deeper, and that's how can you cultivate true contentment in this world that just says More, more, more. And you know exactly what I'm talking about.

' cause maybe as you listen to this, right now, you're feeling that pressure to keep up. You look around and you see others. You see your neighbor just got that new fancy car, or maybe your friend just bought a brand new house and you were over to their house. Oh, well this house is beautiful.

Or maybe at work you see somebody's got the latest gadget and you, I gotta have that gadget, and then suddenly you're thinking, what I have just feels inadequate.

What I'm really talking about here is that not enough mindset. It's easy to fall into that trap. Listen, I've been there comparing myself to the neighbor, comparing myself to the friend. Don't even talk about social media. Go on social media. Look at the highlight reel there and see that not enough mindset that just leads us to these impulse buys. Oh, I gotta have this. Oh, I gotta have the new car. I'm thought about how you're gonna pay for it, which leads us to debt.

And you've been working hard to pay off your debt, and you just, I gotta have this new thing. So you just build up the debt. Again, all of that just leads us to this square piece of stress. And if you're honest with yourself, you keep chasing,

but you never feel satisfied. You know why? Because that more, that, more that, more that, more, that finish line just keeps moving. It just keeps going farther ahead because there's another more in front of that. And when that finish line keeps moving, it just robs you of the present joy that you could experience right now. And in the long run, it just completely steals your financial peace. Here's the thing, you gotta understand. The world we live in says more is better.

Hey, you gotta have more. You gotta have the biggest house, the nicest car, the best gadgets, you name it, the best clothes. These sneakers, you get the idea like that watch I had to have that I talked about a few days ago. The world said, Ralph, you need more. You need better. But God's word gives us a better truth. Let's look in the Bible. Let's look at the book of Hebrews. And this comes to us from chapter 13, verse five.

And I love this verse in the Bible because it really nails exactly what I'm talking about today. It says this, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. And it could have stopped there, but it continues. And it said, because God has said, never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. What is it telling us here? Keep your lives free from the love of money. Now, a lot of people take that and and go different direction about that.

I've talked about that on the show. Encourage you to go check out those episodes, but bigger than that, the next couple words, and be content with what you have. And then I love the ending to this because think about what this verse is actually saying. Be content with what you have because God has said, and here's, here's what you really have. Here's the contentment. God will never leave you, nor will he forsake you. See, contentment is not resignation.

Well, you know, I'm just gonna be content and I'm gonna do what Ralph said. I'm just gonna live a dull, boring life, and I'm not gonna have the new stuff, and I'm not gonna have the, that's not what I'm saying at all. It's not resignation. Instead, it's turning the tables and it's choose to live with an intentional mindset. Because what you're really doing there is you're trusting God's provision today, and you're anchoring your peace in him.

You're anchoring your peace in the person who said, never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. That finish line's not moving my friend. It's right there where it's been from the beginning. You're trusting in God's provision today, and you're anchoring your peace in him, not your possessions. If you're wondering how you break that power break that power of that more and more and more, it's how you do it. ' cause here's the big truth.

Contentment is a spiritual discipline that reduces financial stress. I wanna say that again because it's so important that you hear that right now where you are contentment is a spiritual discipline that reduces, I'm even gonna say eliminates financial stress. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? So now you're asking, what can we do? How do we cultivate contentment in a discontented world? It's a really tough call because everything around you is telling you get more, more. I mean, listen.

Open up your email, open up your phone, go online, do, and it's all shouting to you more, more, more. Well, here's my solution for today. Practice conscious gratitude for what you already have. Then actively resist comparison. I'm gonna say that again because I think it's so important that you hear it. Practice conscious gratitude for what you already have, and then actively work at it. Resist comparison. It's training your heart to find sufficiency and joy right where you are.

What did the Bible say? I'll never leave you nor forsake you. You've already got it. So here's my action step for you today. I want you to take great time right now. I want you to do what I call the gratitude pause. I want you to take five minutes. Maybe you can't do it right now, but when you've got some quiet time, but I wanna encourage you to do it today. Just take five minutes and I just want you to list three, four, or five things that you're grateful for.

And these aren't some big pie in the sky things. I want you to be detailed, think small. Maybe it's something like you're grateful for coffee. I know that sounds silly. You're grateful for shoes, you're grateful for hugs, or you're grateful for moments. ' cause what you're really doing is you have a purposeful idea to shift your heart from scarcity to abundance. See, that's what we need to do. We need to shift our hearts from that feeling of scarcity to abundance. Here's some ideas.

Maybe you say, I'm grateful for the quiet morning I had before the kids woke up. I've been there. My kids are gone from the nest at this point, but I remember those mornings all too well. So I'm grateful for that quiet morning I had before the kids woke up. Just me, my bible, maybe a cup of coffee.

Here's another one. One of the listeners shared this with me a couple months back. He said, Ralph, I'm grateful. My car, it may not be fancy, but it starts every morning and it gets me to where I need to go. Hey, there's something to be grateful for. It's not that flashy new sports car that your neighbor has. It's not fancy, but it starts every morning and gets me where I need to go.

Or maybe this, I had a 20 minute conversation with my teenager yesterday and they actually opened up, Hey, that's something to be grateful for. Teenager opening up to their parents. I don't mind, we're struggling to do that. Here's one a lot of people won't even think about. The shoes I wore today are over five years old and still doing their job. Listen, that's God's provision in your life. And I don't mean to make light of it, but think about that. Or maybe this one.

I'm thankful for the encouraging text A friend sent me out of nowhere.

I'm just gonna pause for a second. Think about how impactful that can be. If you have the ability to encourage someone today, do it ' cause they're on the other side. They're gonna be so thankful for that. I want you to be specific. You gotta be specific about this because gratitude grows in the details. You're not just thankful for, oh, I'm thankful for my family. No, You're thankful for how your son made you laugh last night, or how your spouse made your coffee just the way you like it.

Be specific because gratitude grows in the details. So that's the first thing. Start that gratitude thing. And then I want you to identify one of your comparison triggers. We're gonna really battle this. We gotta understand what our triggers are. Where do you feel the most discontent, maybe for you? It's on social media. I see social media, Robin. Everybody's got everything, and I don't have nothing. Maybe it's in stores. You walk through the target store or whatever store you go to.

Walmart, I don't really care where it is. And it just makes you, oh, I wish I had that boy, I wish I had the money to buy that. Or maybe it's just certain conversations you get stuck in. You've got to have a purpose of becoming aware of what stirs up discontent or what stirs up envy in your life. Here's some great examples of this. I notice I feel less than every time I pass a luxury vacation post on Instagram.

Every time I see one of those posts, I, I, oh, I just feel, I feel like I'm less because I'm not on that vacation. Or maybe I get frustrated about my wardrobe after walking through Target or scrolling on Amazon. Maybe for you it's talking with a coworker just bought a new car and makes me start to feel embarrassed about mine. They're talking about, oh, I got this fancy sports car and I'm thinking about my Toyota out in the parking lot. It gets me to where I'm going, bud.

It's certainly not fancy and it's certainly not that flashy new sports car. Maybe for you, it's when I hear someone talk about paying off debt quickly. 'cause I'm not able to do that 'cause I spiral into self-criticism because I'm not doing that. Maybe you, maybe for you it's printers used to inspire me. Now it just makes you feel like my home isn't good enough.

Not spend a lot of time on Pinterest or our episodes are there, but it used to inspire me, but now it just makes me feel like my home isn't good enough. Ask yourself what places or people tend to shift your focus from that feeling of gratitude to that feeling of grumbling. Once you've identified, once you put those things in, implement what I'll call a comparison filter.

Once you figure out those things that are causing you to not feel gratitude, limit your exposure to them, unfollow those accounts, close those shopping pads, redirect that conversation, and then let list you made, revisit that gratitude list. Maybe you need to do that every single day. See, you've gotta proactively protect your mindset and proactively protect your heart. Here's some great examples that I unfollowed five influencers today.

It's probably a good start, and I realized they were subtly making me feel like I was always behind. Here's another great one. I closed out my online card. I had $120 worth of things I didn't need. Instead, I reread my gratitude list and felt a shift. Maybe next time someone brings up money or stuff that triggers me, I'm going to change the subject or just silent, remind myself, Ralph, that's not my lane. Or May, maybe I move the social media off off my home screen.

Now I pause before opening it and sometimes guess what? I just skip it. And I absolutely love this one. Every time I feel the itch to buy something unnecessary, I take 60 seconds to list three blessings instead. See, here's the truth. Gratitude is the antidote to comparison. And the goal isn't to shame yourself. It's just not. It's to really recenter yourself on what matters. 'cause here's why this works, 'cause gratitude refocuses you on God's blessings. I will never leave you no forsake you.

That filtering, comparison stops that not enough narrative.

You stop hearing that in the back of your head, and once you develop these habits, they're gonna anchor you in peace and they're gonna anchor you in purpose. Well, how about we pray together today? Father God, we just thank you for all you've given us. And Lord, we just confess that often we chase more and we compare ourselves to others.

And Lord, we just ask that you would help us to live our lives free from that love of money and cultivate deep contentment in our hearts for the things you've already give us, Lord. And help us to truly see the treasure, Lord, and the blessing that you give us on a daily basis, and just be grateful for them. And we ask this in confidence. In Jesus name, Amen. Listen. Contentment is an active daily choice practice gratitude filter comparison because you're moving towards freedom.

And I just wanna encourage you, if this episode has impacted you, I'm gonna encourage you to share it with somebody else. We talked about that a little while ago, about that encouraging text. I. Maybe you know somebody that's struggling with this, somebody who's really batting that fear of not having enough, and I just wanna encourage you to share this episode with them and show them that there is a purpose and they can be grateful for what they have.

You can also visit our website@financiallyconfidentchristian.com, where you can get a copy of my book, it's called Mastering Your Finances is absolutely free. You can get that@financiallyconfidentchristian.com slash master. I'm encourage you to get that. Now, tomorrow we're gonna talk about how gratitude can radically shift your finances. Yes, we're gonna talk about a radical shift in your finances, so don't miss it.

And now I just wanna encourage you, let's go out there and be those financially confident Christians. You can do this. I believe in you. I want you to believe in yourself and stay financially savvy. God bless you and you have a great day today.