Simplicity: Finding Contentment in a Busy Life

How can we live with simplicity in a world that forever tugs at us to be discontent?

We complicate our lives with too much.  We assume too many activities, we strive for too many possessions, we seek too many diversions, we have too much ambition.  There is not enough time to do all of the things we want.  There is not enough time to pursue all of the resources necessary to have our “too many” things.

No wonder that life is stressful and negative for so many.  We take a simple thing like being alive and turn it into a complexity that no one can “live up to.”  Behind all this drive is ultimately a focus on ourselves.  It is EASY for us to determine that WE are are the focus of our lives.

“But life is not simple,” people say. There is too much to worry about and deal with.  Life just can NOT be simple.

There is a difference between simplistic, simplicity, and simple.  

Simplistic is trying to explain too much by a single principle.  

Simplicity is singleness of nature, unity, indivisibility.  It is a state of being simple, frank, open, alert, and real.  

Simple is uprightness, blameless, innocent, harmless, free from duplicity, gentle, clear, straightforward.

When we let go of all of the imagined complexities of life; when we can reject having “our own way” in favor of a way that is of benefit to what God desires; when we can focus simply on Christ, we can find simplicity and contentment.

The next six lessons will help us to do that as we look at:

     A Centered Life                           Matthew 6:25-34
          Simplicity and contentment begin with a focus on Christ

     A Daily Pursuit                            Philippians 4:4-9
         A focus on Christ is to be pursued daily.

     The Key to Contentment            Philippians 4:10-20
         All we need is wrapped up in Christ

     Godly Contentment                    1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19
         Pursuing godliness in Christ gives us contentment

     A Slower Pace                             Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-17
         Simplicity includes taking time for God-given rest.

     Uncomplicated relationships    1 Thessalonians 4:3-12
         Simplicity is expressed int he way we relate to others.

Come and learn how to simplify life and live with a singleness of nature, in unity and in congruence with the purpose God designed you for.  Life can be simple.