Battling Discontentment: Three Steps for the Fight

Sometimes I catch myself feeling very dissatisfied:

“The stuff I have isn’t good enough.”

“The day isn’t going how I want it to go.”

“The food I want isn’t in the refrigerator.”

Everything revolves around my own wants and my own needs—me, me, me. At least, that’s what my flesh tells me.

God, on the flip side, convicts me in my discontentment:

He is all I need; I don’t need stuff to satisfy me.

The day is going how He planned; I should use it for His glory.

He has given me the food I need and provided for me; it doesn’t matter what I crave.

Still, I find myself feeling discontent more often than not. Rather than finding satisfaction in Christ, I listen to my own flesh.

So, the question is, how can I resist my flesh? How can I fight discontentment? Here are three steps I can follow to battle dissatisfaction:

#1 Express Thankfulness

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” – Psalm 107:1 (ESV)

Thankfulness, or showing appreciation, is something I often struggle to express, especially when it comes to thanking God.

As a result, I tend to fall into the pattern of feeling dissatisfied, or discontented, with the life God has graciously given to me.

Rather than thanking God for the blessings He has given me, as the Psalms command, I selfishly complain about the things He has not given me. Rather than thanking God for His constant goodness and steadfast love, I get frustrated that my earthly desires haven’t been satisfied.

As a believer in Christ, I should be rejoicing that my merciful Savior, Yahweh, has blessed me abundantly! I should be praising Jehovah for loving me unconditionally, despite my failures!

Consequently, I find that rejoicing and praising God greatly quells my discontentment, especially when I choose to deny fleshly wants and focus on thanking God daily.

But how can I do that? How can I show God appreciation?

I find that literally thanking God on a daily basis fights my dissatisfaction.

Rather than thinking, “Yes, I need to be thankful for God’s blessings today,” I intentionally thank God for His mercy and grace, whether thoughtfully or out loud.

When I wake up in the morning: “Lord, thank You for the sunshine today.”

When I talk to a friend I haven’t seen in a while: “Lord, thank You for that opportunity.”

I’ve learned that fighting discontentment isn’t solved by simply ignoring my pattern of dissatisfaction, but by making a daily effort to thank God in every area of my life, whether large or small.

#2 Be a Servant to Others

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

I’ve learned that a big part of my discontentment, or dissatisfaction, relies on the constant focus on my own wants and needs. This day is about me! No one else, especially the people around me, matters.

However, God has shown me—and strongly convicted me—that the people around me are so much more important than my own desires!

Like Philippians 2 says, it is far better to count others as more significant than to focus on my own selfish needs and wants.

And as a result, when I put others above my own wants, my discontentment vanishes!

When I choose to serve the people around me, rather than myself, my dissatisfaction dwindles!

When I choose to help my mom with the dishes, rather than to watch TV in my room, I am content. When I choose to serve at a church event, rather than to sit on my bed at home, I am satisfied. I am fulfilled, then, when I serve the people around me because I am no longer the focus of my life.

Glorifying God, specifically through helping others, becomes my purpose, and I can no longer be dissatisfied.

#3 Pray for Contentment

“And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.” – 1 John 5:14-15 (ESV)

All too constantly, prayer is an aspect of contentment that I forget. Why pray? I’ve got this on my own. Why ask God for help? He won’t hear me.

As a result, my discontentment often peaks, and I find myself tempted to ignore God entirely.

Accordingly, because I won’t go to God for help, I’m left empty, dissatisfied, and frustrated.

However, 1 John 5 combats my wrongdoing: I am not left alone to fend for myself! Christ hears my every prayer and knows my every need.

I do not need to be empty, dissatisfied, or frustrated. I have a Savior who hears me!

Consequently, when I choose to cry out to God in prayer, my discontentment fades. My dissatisfaction wanes! When I ask, “Lord, please take this dissatisfaction away from me,” He hears me. When I plead, “Lord, take away this selfish desire,” He answers me. I can have confidence in the truth that Christ will answer my prayer for contentment and provide satisfaction in Him.

I no longer have to wallow in my sinful discontentment because I have an everlasting Father who hears my distress. He answers my plea for help and listens to my cry for mercy!

Christ is my Satisfaction

While expressing thankfulness, serving others, and praying for contentment are sure-fire ways to fight discontentment, the ultimate solution is Christ.

Psalm 107:9 (ESV) says, “Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things,” (Emphasis added).

My Savior and Creator, Jesus Christ, is my ultimate and complete Satisfaction.

I will never be able to find true contentment on this earth, but through Jehovah, I am able to rest contentedly in Him.

When I thirst for Him, He satisfies me.

When I long for Him, He fills me.

No matter how much I fail, and no matter how much I struggle, I can rest in the assurance that my God—my Savior—is the need of my heart and the satisfaction of my soul for eternity.