I Choose Peace by Chip Ingram

Author:Chip Ingram
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Living;Peace—Religious aspects—Christianity;Anxiety—Religious aspects—Christianity;Stress management—Religious Aspects—Christianity;Bible (Philippians 4 [Criticism;interpretation;etc.]);REL012120;REL012070;REL012000
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2021-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

The Answer: Four Principles, Four Practices

Paul understood that contentment is a moving target. He knew from experience that gaining more and more would never be enough, and there were plenty of Stoics in his day to demonstrate that getting less and less—or becoming more and more detached—wasn’t the answer either. So in this passage to the Philippians, where he calls contentment a “secret,” he lays out four principles and practices we can follow to obtain it.

Keep in mind that these are doable principles and practices, not unreachable ideals. They are steps we can take to learn to be at peace 24/7, just as we learned to ride a bike or mastered a professional skill. We’ve touched on some of them, but we need to look at them in more depth. When we learn these, we are equipped for any situation we will ever encounter.

PRINCIPLE 1: Contentment is not dependent on our circumstances. Most of us have been taught unconsciously that there’s a huge gap between our circumstances and our desires, and all we need to do is close that gap and we’ll be happy. That’s what the commercials tell us, right? We’ve been exposed to this message all our lives because it’s the way the world thinks. I call it “the when-then syndrome”: When you get married, get that job, have that house, drive that car, or whatever your particular desire is, then you’ll be satisfied. Maybe you’re waiting for your marriage to hit on all cylinders or your kids to grow up with good and healthy behaviors. It might be a certain career or a level of achievement within that career. It can be really big-ticket items or smaller steps along the way, like making a team or having enough money to remodel the kitchen. Large or small, the issue is always “when.” And when “when” happens, “then” contentment and peace come.

As we’ve seen, this is a lie. Lots of people have gotten from the “when” to the “then” and are still very unhappy. Like cats chasing their tails, they keep increasing the speed of the chase but still never catch up. The only way to get out of this never-ending cycle is to identify and break the lie. How?

PRACTICE 1: Be grateful. Develop the discipline of thanking God for what you have rather than focusing on what you don’t have. Gratitude is a very effective antidote to the never-ending chase. Billions of dollars are spent every year on advertising that is designed to make people discontent and put the possibility of contentment in front of them through a certain product or lifestyle—food, drink, clothing, jobs, cars, diets, surgery, grooming products, and on and on. Any of these can be enjoyed and might be nice to have. None of them have the power to make us content in themselves.

Paul interrupts this human tendency of focusing on what we don’t have to say, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” The rest of the letter backs that up. He rejoices and gives thanks throughout for all the great things that are happening.

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