55: Gratitude Restores Contentment

Ever notice those quiet moments when the life you once prayed for shows up in plain sight—tiny socks in the laundry, laughter down the hall, a kiss at the door—and yet your heart still aches for the thing you don’t have? We lean into that tension and chart a clearer route from comparison to contentment, guided by Scripture, honest stories, and simple habits that actually stick.

We unpack gratitude as more than a feeling or a seasonal hashtag—it’s a practiced choice to acknowledge God’s goodness in all circumstances. Drawing from 1 Thessalonians 5 and Philippians 4, we explore how contentment is learned in both feast and famine, and how “I can do all things” is really about the strength to be steady when life swings wide. With insights from Melissa Kruger’s The Envy of Eve, we name how coveting starts when we suspect God is holding out on us, and how that suspicion fuels comparison that drains joy. You’ll hear candid moments of envy—from distance from family to a first year of marriage marked by deployment—and the practical ways gratitude reframed each season without denying the pain.

From there, we move into doable rhythms: start your day with a short prayer of thanks, notice beauty in the ordinary (full gas tanks, crowded counters, messy desks that signal provision and purpose), speak gratitude aloud so your home can hear it, and redirect comparison the moment it surfaces with praise and remembrance. Philippians 2 calls us to shine without grumbling; gratitude becomes the daily resistance that keeps our tone soft and our witness bright. Along the way, we revisit Psalm 16’s language of portion and inheritance and close with the renewing cadence of Psalm 103, a reminder that forgiveness, healing, redemption, steadfast love, and true satisfaction are already at work in us.

If this conversation helps you trade striving for steadiness, share it with a friend who needs that shift today. Subscribe for more faith-filled, practical episodes, and leave a review to tell us one small blessing you’re naming this week. Your story might spark someone else’s gratitude.

Recommended Reading:

The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger

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Episode Transcript

Leanne (00:50):
Have you ever had a moment when you were in the
middle of something, but thenyou looked around and you
realized that you were livingwhat you once prayed for?
Perhaps you were folding thismountain of laundry, and then
the sight of those tiny littlesocks reminds you that you once
prayed for a house full ofchildren.

(01:10):
Or maybe you're cooking dinnerand you hear your kids playing
upstairs and you remember whenyou prayed for a sibling for
your firstborn.
Maybe it's your husband givingyou a kiss before heading off to
work, or your grandchildsending you a picture that he
colored in mail.
Your desk at work clutteredwith evidence of great ideas

(01:31):
that you're turning intosuccessful projects.
But what about the moments whenour hopes and dreams don't pan
out?
When our unmet expectationslead to disappointment and

(01:54):
sorrow, or maybe even anger?
What about when you look overand you see someone else living
the life you wish you had?
What then?
Today I want to unpack how itis that gratitude shifts our
perspective from comparison tocontentment.
As women of excellence, it is agrateful heart that allows us

(02:19):
to continue to embraceexcellence even in the midst of
our ordinary, even when we'restruggling with the sin of
coveting.
It's November, and that meansthat everyone is talking about
gratitude or giving thanks andbeing so hashtag blessed.
But gratitude isn't seasonal,it isn't a feeling or even a

(02:42):
hashtag.
Gratitude is a choice toacknowledge God's goodness.
In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5.18tells us to give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is thewill of God in Christ Jesus for
you.
This means that we are to givethanks even when our current

(03:03):
situation feels unfair orlacking.
It is gratitude that makesembracing excellence possible.
Gratitude anchors us in what istrue and good and right.
Paul shares his secret tocontentment in Philippians 4, 11
through 13.

(03:24):
He says, Not that I am speakingof being in need, for I have
learned, in whatever situation Iam, to be content.
I know how to be brought low,and I know how to abound.
In any and every circumstance Ihave learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger,abundance and need.

(03:44):
I can do all things through himwho strengthens me.
We hear that last verse a lot,and yet in context, we find that
this verse applies to beingcontent in all circumstances.
Honestly, that does requiresupernatural strength.
It isn't easy to be content,especially in a world that is

(04:06):
constantly striving for more.
A discontented heart is oftenrooted in comparison or
coveting, and this leads tostriving.
But as a woman of excellence,you are seeking wholehearted
devotion to God in all that youdo.
Colossians 3, 15 through 17,some of my favorite verses,

(04:29):
says, and let the peace ofChrist rule in your hearts, to
which indeed you are called inone body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell inyou richly, teaching and
admonishing one another in allwisdom, singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs withthankfulness in your hearts to
God.
And whatever you do, in word ordeed, do everything in the name

(04:51):
of the Lord Jesus, givingthanks to God the Father through
him.
Here we see that gratitude andpraise are intertwined with
excellence.
I recently finished reading TheEnvy of Eve by Melissa Kruger,
and much of what she discussesin her book I found applicable
to this topic.

(05:12):
She talks about coveting andwhat it is, which is a desire
for something that God has notyet given, and how this distorts
our view of his goodness.
You can trace this doubt andunbelief all the way back to the
garden in Genesis chapter 3,when the serpent said to Eve,
Did God really say?
Her response to the serpentrevealed the beginnings of her

(05:36):
discontentment.
Was God holding out on her?
Melissa Kruger explains it thisway in her book.
Coveting begins when we believeGod has withheld something good
from us.
Coveting then leads tocomparison, which robs us of
joy, or in this case, it stealsour gratitude.
Excellence, on the other hand,requires our trust.

(05:59):
Trusting that God's portion foryou is enough.
Choosing to be grateful forwhat you have restores
contentment.
And while I loved theopportunity to live in a
charming fairy tale-likevillage, I was envious of my

(06:20):
friends who lived close to theirfamily.
I longed for my daughter toknow her grandparents and spend
time with them.
I felt alone and isolated, andI struggled with being content
in that season when everythingseemed so much harder because we
were so far away.
And then even before that, Iremember feeling jealous of a

(06:41):
friend of mine who got marriedjust two weeks after I did.
While my husband deployeddirectly from our honeymoon, she
got to enjoy the blessings ofbeing a newlywed right away.
I resented the fact that I hadto wait for my husband to return
and that I only got to spendthree months collectively with
him during that first year ofmarriage.
It just didn't seem fair.

(07:04):
But you see, that's the thingabout unmet expectations or
comparison or envy.
Doubt creeps in and drains ourgratitude so that all that is
left is disappointment.
And then it becomes nearlyimpossible to embrace excellence
because our hearts are so fullof grumbling and complaining.

James 3:16 says it this way: For where jealousy and selfish (07:27):
undefined
ambition exist, there will bedisorder and every vile
practice.
Yikes.
And yet, gratitude shifts ourfocus from what we lack to what

(08:00):
God has entrusted to us.
A few weeks ago, my lovelyfriend Emily shared these verses
from Psalm 16, 5 and 6.
The Lord is my chosen portionand my cup.
You hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me inpleasant places.
Indeed, I have a beautifulinheritance.

(08:21):
Friend, do you believe that?
Unbelief is the root of nearlyall sin.
When we doubt God's goodnessand sovereignty, we stop
believing that He has our bestin mind.
And we start to think that theobject of our desire or that
thing that we are striving foris more important than the one

(08:45):
who gives all the good andperfect gifts.
Instead, I think sometimes Godallows us to experience
discontentment so that we comeback to Him as our true source
of life.
And as have we and as we havetalked about before, peace, joy,
and contentment come when weabide in Christ, when we stay

(09:08):
connected to the vine, as itsays in John 15.
Choosing to cultivate gratitudeis honestly counter-cultural.

(09:48):
The world loves to complain, totake offense, and to demand
that things be more fair.
Philippians 2, 14 and 15 says,Do all things without grumbling
or disputing, that you may beblameless and innocent children
of God without blemish in themidst of a crooked and twisted
generation, among whom you shineas lights in the world.

(10:12):
I don't know about you, but Iwant to shine my light bright.
And my heart already feelslighter just thinking about all
the ways that God is faithfuland loving towards me.
I love this quote from the Envyof Eve that says, Contentment
is not settling for less.

(10:33):
It's trusting that God hasalready given what's best.
So as you go about your nextfew weeks and months, as we edge
closer to some of the mostconsumer-driven and emotionally
charged days of the year, chooseto be different by cultivating
a grateful heart.

(10:53):
Start your day withThanksgiving.
Perhaps a short and sweetprayer thanking the Lord for
this day.
And then name a few specificblessings.
Make a point to notice beautyin the ordinary.
Like a full tank of gas so thatyou can take your kids to all
of their activities.
Or the groceries all over yourcounter means that you have

(11:15):
enough food to feed your familythis week.
Speak gratitude aloud.
Set an encouraging example toothers around you by replacing
your complaints with those.
They'll notice.
And finally, reject comparison.
As soon as you notice yourheart and mind drifting in that

(11:38):
direction, redirect with praiseand worship.
To close this episode, I wantto read Psalm 103, 1 through 5
to you.
This Psalm is David's praiseand worship to God.
It is my hope that you canremember these words when you
feel disappointed or when youstart to doubt God's goodness in

(11:58):
your life.
I pray that these words refreshyour heart and mind and restore
contentment through gratitude.
Psalm 103, 1 through 5.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, andall that is within me.
Bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, andforget not all his benefits, who

(12:20):
forgives all your iniquity, whoheals all your diseases, who
redeems your life from the pit,who crowns you with steadfast
love and mercy, who satisfiesyou with good, so that your
youth is renewed like theeagle's.