A Lesson About Contentment

Contentment is a quality everyone from all walks of life and all ages should strive towards.

Have you written a letter to your child about the importance of contentment? If not, here are some ideas to use in a letter.

CONTENTMENT LETTER THEME

Contentment definition:

the state of being happy and satisfied; not needing more (source: Merriam-Webster)

Bible Story:

Use the story of Naboth’s Vineyard (1 Kings 21) to teach your child about contentment. I love Bible Gateway and using the International Children’s Bible as a reference in my letters because this version really makes the complexity of Bible verses and stories easy for children to understand.

In your letter summarize the story of King Ahab. Click here for the ICB version of the story.

Bible Verse:

Phillippians 4:12b

Lesson to learn:

Be happy with what you have. There will always be times in all of our lives that there is something we want that we do not have. When we focus on what we do not have, we are miserable.

Help the child relate and be personal:

Discuss a time when there was something you wanted that you did not have. How did this make you feel? Maybe a friend had something you were jealous of. Maybe there was a job or promotion you really wanted that someone else got. Explain how you found contentment in your situation.

How to apply to life:

Trust God with everything. Prayer. Show gratitude, generosity, and love.

An exercise to learn contentment:

Depending on the age of your child, challenge them to think of something every day they are thankful for and give thanks to God. If they are old enough to write, challenge them to write down three things they are thankful for each day and thank God through prayer.  You could ask them to try to do this exercise for a week or month depending on the age of your child.

Keep in mind habits are formed through repetition. By consciously thinking or writing what we are thankful for daily, we are practicing and making an effort to learn contentment. Once we learn to be content with what we have, we can develop positive attitudes and contentment will come naturally no matter the situation.

If you sponsor an older child, challenge them to write 1000 things they are thankful for like Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare.

You could also encourage follow-up and accountability by asking them to write you about what they are thankful for.

Prayer:

Let your child know you will be praying for them by asking God to help them be content with what they have, to focus on their blessings, always show gratitude, and to find peace in knowing God is greater than everything. Also, ask your child to pray for you to learn contentment.

Attachments:

I made two attachments that you can upload as individual photo pages to accompany your letter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contentment is a life lesson we all need.