True Satisfaction

Satisfaction. What is that? No, you don't need to go grab a dictionary...I mean, look it up online... Think about your own definition. What do you need to be satisfied? Or are you already??

I have to confess- I'm not always satisfied. And when I'm not, everything seems wrong. If I get focused on a certain desire and let it consume me, I forget about all of the blessings that God has given me: my job, my friends, my family, my health, a phone that texts, my college degree, etc. etc. etc.

There is only one thing we really NEED for satisfaction. Do you know what that is? It's found right here:

Philippians 3:7-9
⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

THAT is where true satisfaction lies. Of course, we're human- we'll forget about this again and need another reminder. Thankfully, God is patient! And why is satisfaction with our Savior so important? Kelly Needham wrote saying that it is easy for that desire to have something in order to achieve satisfaction can become an idol. Once that happens, idols are roadblocks to our spiritual growth. Please read her entire article, but if you don't have time- read the 3 paragraphs below!

 The following is an excerpt from Kelly Needham's blog that gripped me and I felt the need to share! I hope that it impacts you as it has me.

"Can we be honest for a second? If we are waiting on anything other than God to have a full heart, then we have created an idol. God is no longer our God and no longer the one who fills our soul. He is no longer the One in whom we have placed our hope. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be married or wanting a season of life to be over, but as soon as we need that to happen to be completely fulfilled, it is an idol.

So where do we go from here? May I first suggest that we stop being satisfied with singing songs in church, quoting Scripture and then living like none of it is true. It doesn’t matter what we say we believe or what we sing; our actions will show the true beliefs of our heart. If you feel as if you could never be happy unless you are married, have children, etc, then be honest with yourself, God, and others. Admit that you’re setting your hope on something else and don’t actually believe that God alone is enough for you. Let’s start by being honest about what we actually believe because we can actually move forward from there. If you aren’t being honest, you are deceiving yourself and creating a roadblock for any spiritual growth. Any progress you try to make spiritually won’t last if you are building on a foundation that isn’t actually there.

So why do we have such a hard time being honest with ourselves in the first place? I think we desperately want to have it all together and be “the good Christian” with all the right answers. Maybe it’s because we care way too much about what others think of us or maybe it’s because we think that’s how we can please God. Either way, this causes us to lack a sense of raw honesty about where we are at and what we actually think about God and who we are as believers. There is something in most of us that hesitates to say, “I know the Bible says that everything is a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus, but I don’t actually believe that right now.” But if we want to see true growth and freedom from idols in our life, I believe it will start with that kind of honesty."