BE CONTENT

By Evangeline Unity Esaaba Folson

Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness: and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
There are two words in this verse above that catch my attention, “covetousness” and “content”. According to the oxford English mini-dictionary Covetousness is to desire (a thing belonging to another person)
Content is to be satisfied with what one has
One of the ten commandments God gave Moses says;
Neither shalt thou desire (covet) thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his man servant, or has maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor’s
God spoke against covetousness in the Ten Commandments and repeats it again in the New Testament, although it was already mentioned in the Old Testament. This implies that God hates covetousness and does not want it to be mentioned among His own.
Furthermore, I believe God knows covetousness is the root of almost all sin and wrong doing.
For instance people steal, kill or commit adultery because they desire what their neighbor has. To overcome covetousness we have to learn to be content with what we have. How or what must we do in order to be content or satisfied with what we have:
 Pray
Proverbs 30:8-9
Matthew 6:11

 Realize that all is vanity
Ecclesiastes 5:26

 Be generous and not selfish
Luke 6:38

 Be grateful to God
1 Thessalonians 5:8

Pray

Proverbs 30:8-9
Remove far from me vanity and lies give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full, and deny thee, and say who is the Lord ? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain
Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.
In the model prayer Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 6:11. He directs us to ask for only what we need for the day. Our daily bread. That is more than enough. There is no need to grab everything you come across.
Furthermore, King Solomon the wisest man that ever lived directs us to pray for only what we need. If we have more than we need, we will forget about God and if we have too little we will forget about God and if we have too little we will disgrace God

Realize that all is vanity

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?
Galatians 5:26
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another envying one another.
Other translations of Ecclesiastic 1:2-3 says:
Useless, useless, all is useless? _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _
This implies that all the things we strangle and work so hard for are worthless.
They have no use after life on earth and even while we are here on earth some depreciate or lose value, they can also be stolen or destroyed by fire or floods. Houses, cars, land, clotting, jewelry and accessories. They are all useless. These things can only give some comfort here on earth only. therefore, there is no need to strive hard for all these things. How many houses can you live in, or how many cars can you drive at a time. Just be content with the little you have. Do not covet or desire what others have and use unapproved methods to possess them. It is not worth it or worthless. Galatians 5:26 also emphasizes what the verse in Ecclesiastes says.

Be generous and not selfish

Luke 6:38

Gives, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mate withal it shall be measured to you.
The verse above says it all instead of grabbing and keeping everything, learn to give and share what you have and as you do this generously from a sincere heart, God will bless you abundantly.

Be grateful to God

1 Thessalonians 5:18
In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
It is very important to learn to thank God in all circumstance. When you are blessed, thank God for His goodness.
When you are faced with challenges and obstacles thank God for the victory, He would give you. This is the will of God concerning us.

BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

References
1. King James Bible
2. Oxford English Minidictionary
3. www.google.com