a life of content
March 3, 2010 | Ministry Life
I’m speaking on Saturday to a group of women locally. It’s a conference on mind, body, and spirit, and I’m the “spirit” part. My topic is Living a Life of Content, and it’s a personal message that I have to keep close.
It’s challenging when you are a communicator and your passion for the topic fizzles.
Or worse, when you just keep on talking. . .
What do you do when your words no longer matter? Perhaps then it’s time for us to take an honest look at the content of our lives.
Are we still trying to spin old messages, or stand on formulaic or trite responses that may or may not fit anymore. Are we living in a comfy world where thosse messages haven’t been tested in a long time?
I love reading Scripture and seeing how Jesus spoke life into so many with so few words. He didn’t hammer his point. He didn’t try to make them see it His way. He stated truth. Sometimes that truth was harsh, as in the case of Peter. “Get behind me, Satan.” A pretty tough admonition to get from anyone, much less the One you love and respect and follow.
Just four words.
But the authority in those words and the love and strength behind them stopped Peter long enough to really hear what was said. He trusted that Christ had his best interest at heart, something that had been proved over and over.
Christ had a life of content.
“Go and sin no more.” Five words. Not words of judgment, but truth spoken as Christ crossed several cultural lines to deliver them to a woman disrespected by her community and by her own actions. Words that transformed her life, and caused her to run into a village to tell anyone who would listen about the man she just met.
“Let the one who has no sin cast the first stone.” Eleven words that stopped a crowd from throwing the heavy stones clutched in their fists.
Christ lived in such a way that his words carried weight.
His faith wasn’t cushy. It definitely wasn’t trite. He lived it out daily.
Why do people believe the way they do? Why do they have the questions that they do? What has life and people and even religion taught them, positive or negative? What is it like to live outside the Bible belt? Outside the U.S.? In poverty? In wealth? In confusion? In joy?
When we we step outside our bubble we can meet people where they live. We might not have all the answers, but we know who does.
God loves you. God sees you. God cares. Forgiving is hard, I know, but living free is worth it.
If I am to have the privilege to speak these words, I need to believe in them myself first. And I do.
But I also need to step across the line between us and see it from the other side.
I need to live a life of content.
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Please pray for me Suzie. I am a wreck at the moment. I feel like everything is coming down on me. It’s hard to explain. After my marriage situation this last year I’m having a hard time trusting my husband fully. I don’t seem to know where my place in life is anymore. I feel out of place and out of sorts. Thanks!
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 pmYour words matter to us… a lot
March 5th, 2010 at 11:24 amSuzanne ~
Thank you for helping me be honest about old, trite formulas that haven’t been tested in a long time. I hadn’t thought about it that way.
I’m sure you were a blessing at your conference today.
March 6th, 2010 at 9:30 pm“Forgiving is hard, I know, but living free is worth it.”
Wow, this is amazing. Clearly, a God thing. The past few days I’ve been struggling to forgive someone else. To choose to let the anger and the hurt go. I want to live free and your words, they reminded me to today. Thank you for sharing this.
Deb
March 8th, 2010 at 10:44 pm