Showing posts with label Heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heart. Show all posts

Day 28: CONTENT (My Heart's Contents Control My Contentment)


Each day during The PURSE-onality Challenge: "A Holiday-Ready Heart" in October, Untangling Christmas by Karen Ehman and LeAnn Rice, will be our give-away prize!  

Enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the blog post or click here to enter!




My language-loving brain has been playing around with today's word.

I realized that "to my heart's content" could have two very different meanings depending on how I pronounce "content."  

So I looked up both pronunciations:

1)  con·tent  [KON-tent]

noun

Usually plural: contents.  Something that is contained: the contents of a box.

Early meaning:  held within


2)  con·tent  [kuhn-TENT]

adjective

satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.

Early meaning:  restrained desires



Then I pondered today's verse:

I know what it is to be in need 
and I know what it is to have plenty. 
I have learned the secret of being content
in any and every situation, 
whether well fed or hungry, 
whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:12 (NIV)



Clearly, my outer circumstances do not have to dictate my contentment.  

They will when I allow them to! 

But when the correct contents are held within my heart, then I will be content, with all unhealthy desires restrained.

And what are the correct contents?

An old favorite song from when my children were far younger came to mind:

I have the love of Jesus, 
love of Jesus
down in my heart.
(Where?)
Down in my heart!
(Where?)
Down in my heart!

I have the love of Jesus,
love of Jesus, 
down in my heart.
(Where?)
Down in my heart to stay!

And I’m so happy,
so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus 
in my heart!
(Down in my heart)
And I'm so happy,
so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus
in my heart!



Jesus in my Heart

Perhaps this sounds sounds simplistic. 

But I believe it is this simple:

I am content when Jesus is my heart's sole content.

No, it's not easy...at least not for me. 

Not yet.

For decades, I've allowed my external circumstances to dictate my thoughts, my beliefs, my moods, my words, my actions, my reactions.

And the havoc this has wreaked -- in my life and my marriage and my relationship with my children and my friendships -- makes "restrained desires" sound like sweet sweet music to my tired ears.


When Jesus is the Content of Our Hearts

When Jesus is the content of my Sanguine heart, I will be content with the joy He brings in the present moment, with no need to keep seeking or creating more "fun".

When Jesus is the content of my Melancholy heart, I will be content in His perfection, without needing to strive to prove my own.

When Jesus is the content of my Choleric heart, I will be content with His control of my life, with no need to keep trying to get it back.

When Jesus is the content of my Phlegmatic heart, I will be content with His peace that passes all understanding, without needing to play relational peace-faker.

When Jesus is my heart's content, I can say, "My heart's content!" 

In any and every circumstance.



Your Turn:
  • What does "content" mean to you? 
  • What helps you make Jesus your heart's content? 
  • Anything else on your heart!


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    Day 24: REJOICE (We Share the Same Heart Rate)

    Each day during The PURSE-onality Challenge: "A Holiday-Ready Heart" in October, Untangling Christmas by Karen Ehman and LeAnn Rice, will be our give-away prize!  

    Enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the blog post or click here to enter!



    Day 14: TRUST (+ How Each PURSE-onality Can Get Day Overwhelmed)
    Day 15: PATIENT (+ Practicing Now for Patience Then)
    Day 16: NO RECORD (+ How to Have Grudge-Free Holidays)
    Day 17: TRUTH (Each PURSE-onality's Take on Truth)
    Day 18: PERSEVERE (+2 Cures for Procrastination)
    Day 19: BLESS (Your Feelings Can Help You Choose)
    Day 20: BUILDING (20+ Ways to Build with Words)
    Day 21: HOLD (Hold Back, Let Go, and Step Up)
    Day 22: FRUIT (I Didn't Think...I Was a People-Pleaser!)
    Day 23: CLEANSE (A Holiday-Ready Home)


    Today's blog comes to you as a vlog (below) or blog (scroll past vlog)!

    (Can't view the video directly?  Click here to watch "We Share the Same Heart Rate" on YouTube!)




    The Comparison Game

    This summer, while traveling, I made a point to get up every morning and spend time on the elliptical in the hotel exercise room.

    I was really feeling pretty good about myself. I had trained for a couple of races -- nothing big, but not bad for me! So I wanted to maintain my momentum, keep my body fit, and take good care of my heart.

    One morning, I got up at 5:30 and was the only person in the exercise room. I was working away on the elliptical, with some good music on my iPod, feeling good about myself, thinking, Nothing’s going to stop me!  It’s going to be a great day!

    Then the door opened, and another woman came in. She looked to be about my age and got on the elliptical next to me. 

    I thought Oh, how nice! This is great -- some companionship!

    Yeah.  

    Until she got going.

    Twice my speed!

    And it was effortless for her.

    I’d been in there for twenty or thirty minutes and was soaked with sweat.  (I am not one of those dainty women who “glistens”!) I did not look attractive.

    She had her hair up in a ponytail; I’ve not had enough hair for a ponytail since high school.

    Clearly, I was deep into playing the comparison game.

    I started thinking, Well, at least I’ve gone farther than she has!

    Which lasted for another ten minutes, at which point she lapped me.

    At that point, I had no need to stay in the room with someone who made me look bad and feel bad!


    Focusing on Heart Rate

    I started slowing down to stop, when my eyes fell once more on the digital display on her elliptical.

    And I realized that the number on her heart rate monitor matched the number on mine.

    So even though she was going faster, and she was going farther than I was, we had the same heart rate.

    I thought, Wow. That’s what really matters. Our heart rates. We’re both getting a good workout.

    We had different body types. And clearly she was in better shape that I was. But I was still pushing my body within the perimeters of my recommended heart rate.

    So I didn’t need to feel bad: she was doing what she needed to get her heart up to that rate, and I was doing what I needed.


    Compare or Rejoice

    Rejoice in the Lord always. 
    I will say it again: 
    Rejoice!
    Philippians 4:4 (NIV)

    It’s so tempting to compare ourselves to each other.

    We women do this all the time!

    Especially at the holidays. We look to see how others are decorating, what kinds of events they’re doing, how they’re dressing…

    You name it, we compare it!

    Problem is, comparison destroys my ability to rejoice.

    I’d been feeling really good on the elliptical. And even when the woman walked in, it wasn’t her presence that bothered me, it was looking at the numbers on her elliptical that caused me to go from feeling really good to feeling bad about myself.


    Heart Rate = Price Paid

    Then I got to thinking about “heart rate” in a different way:

    We all have the same heart rate.

    The rate that has been paid for our hearts is the same.

    Jesus paid the ultimate price for my heart, and he paid the ultimate price for your heart.

    We all have the same heart rate...and it’s already been paid.

    That’s the entire reason we can rejoice all year long!

    And especially at the holiday season.


    Your Turn:

    • In what areas of life do you find yourself playing the "comparison game"?
    • How might remembering that "we all have the same heart rate" help you navigate difficult relationships this holiday season? 
    • Anything else on your heart!
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