Sports Spectrum

I often think of what one of the Dallas Cowboys said after winning Super Bowl XXX. As he sat in the locker room an hour after the game, he asked, “Now, who do we get to play next?”

That statement brings out a truth we all can easily recognize: Even our most magnificent achievements seldom bring total satisfaction and contentment.

Do you have a problem with contentment? Join the team.

The famous preacher from years past, Charles Spurgeon, said, “Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated. It will not grow in us by nature; it is the new nature alone that can produce it, and even then we must be specially careful and watchful that we maintain and cultivate the grace which God has sown in it.” In other words, we gain contentment when we begin our relationship with Christ, but it is something we have to continue to work at to maintain.

In his letter to the people at Philippi, Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Clearly, there had been a time when he didn’t know how to be content. However, Paul learned the secret to contentment in this life, which is found in Philippians 4:13: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

When we rely on the strength of God and shower Him with thanksgiving for the blessings we do have, that’s when the peace of contentment will flow in our hearts. God has put us right where we are for a reason, so it is futile to dwell on the past or worry about the future.

We each need to let God work in us and use us right where we are today. We must let the peace of God bring us the contentment we long for.