One of the best understandings of peace is learning to appreciate what already is.
What we already have.
What we're already accomplishing.
What we're already experiencing.
What is.
Contentment isn't the antithesis of proper motivation and work. Contentment is what Paul said- learning how to experience joy regardless of what other thing happens, doesn't happen or gets added to or taken away from you.
Spend some time as a group helping to remind one another that we aren't the sum of what we come to possess. This isn't new information, yet we must be reminded or we easily fall back into the old lie that our life is out "there" yet to be had, instead of right here, where God wants to meet us.
Thaw
- Have you noticed your mood changing with the weather? What do we learn about ourselves by our answer?
- What are we learning about external factors that affect who we feel like we are?
- What does it mean to have "self-control" knowing the influence the universe can have on us.
- What most stuck with you from Sunday morning?
Read
- Luke 12:15
- Thoughts?
- Why are we told to be on our guard about something that comes from within?
- In what ways do we actually enjoy being measured by possessions?
Discuss
- Respond as a group to this statement: "Life is better when you learn to appreciate what already is, versus what you might add to it."
Read
- 1 Timothy 6:5-10
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- It's easy to make all this about guilt or the moving target of "how much is too much." What is God actually saying to us and what adjustments do we feel like we are actually being invited to make to our lives?
Leader note: It may be worth pointing out that guilt and shame create anxiety, depression and bitterness. And when we have those feelings, we try and find ways of getting rid of them. In effect, guilt and shame are most often medicated by trying to change the circumstances to find happiness (relief from the bad feelings.) It works against the goal of being content with whatever already is. For some, this causes far more problems- far more buying, shopping, acquiring, comparing, etc. This is why anyone really interested in changing can't count on guilt and shame. It's safe to say, if we are feeling condemned, this isn't coming from a God who knows what's truly transformative. So we should be using it either.
- How has the comparison game affected you and/or your family?
- How do you go through real life appreciating what you have, being thankful for what others have, without turning it into a competition we work hard not to lose?
Apply
- How can this group be a source of containment training?
- How can this group reinforce appreciation and gratitude for the here and now, vs the there and then, while also supporting everyone's efforts to go and do whatever they feel like they are supposed to go and do?
Leader note: A tricky question, hopefully helpful in knowing the difference between contentment and giving up, even bitterly.
Prayer
- Attempt to pray, as a group, in a method that includes everyone without it becoming weird for anyone, a prayer of thanks for what already is. Possessions. Circumstances. Experiences. Belongings. Etc. Without pretending to like pain, see how God might speak into a real attempt to be thankful for the here and now, vs waiting to be content, and therefore appreciative, there and then.
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