REVIEW of CHRIST-CENTERED CONTENTMENT (faithandfinance.org)

I just finished the book Christ-Centered Contentment by Rob Kuban and really enjoyed his insight about the topic of contentment. Rob is an author and founder of Dollars and Doctrine and has written extensively on the subject of Biblical doctrine and financial stewardship. In his latest book, Rob tackles the issue of contentment and challenges you as a reader to explore areas in your life that may need to be addressed.

What is Contentment?

For many, the mere definition of what contentment is and is not prohibits them from experiencing the true joy that comes from being content in Christ. Kuban explores the definition of contentment by addressing the fallacies that are associated with idea of being content. Backed by Biblical truths, he outlines how we should approach contentment and explains how worldly contentment is different from the contentment we have in Christ.

Divided into two parts, Christ Centered Contentment uses the first half to address the definition, convictions and difficulty of finding contentment. The second half focuses on the daily application of making contentment a part of your life. I found this second part to be very thought provoking and an excellent challenge. Throughout the book (and especially in the first half) Kuban provides multiple scripture references to back up his teaching. If you are one who finds it difficult to read through multiple references like these, stay strong because the second half contains down to earth principles that will help you live a life of contentment.

Living Contently

From living a simpler life to confronting jealousy and busyness, Rob doesn’t sugarcoat the path to contentment. “Busyness is a choice,” as Rob says, emphasizing the fact that we need to be conscientious of how we spend our time and also to devote time for rest. Sometimes it takes a few direct chapters like these to help us realize the importance of simplicity and rest – a challenge that I’m working on every day.

The decision to pursue contentment requires you to make a choice to be thankful or to complain. Rob put it best when he quoted his dying father saying “You can choose to be thankful or you can choose to complain. At any given moment you have fuel for both fires – it’s up to you to choose which one you feed.”

Overall, Christ Centered Contentment was a powerful book that challenged me to really look into where I find fulfillment in life. Everything on this earth is temporary, but the hope we have in Christ is eternal and is the very center of contentment.

Buy the book from Amazon.

So, I am going to take a week or so off from posting (only so much creative energy in this brain!)  Be Back Soon.  If you would like to guest post in my absence, send me your post to rob@dollarsanddoctrine.com  Thanks, Rob.

The following is an excerpt from the Freakonomics Blog. If you haven’t read the book, you really should. It’s fantastic.

The price offered to coffee growers who turn in their “cherries” — ripe coffee beans — at Greenwell Farms in Kona, Hawaii, is $.90 per pound if they are paid weekly and $1.05 if paid monthly.

The weekly price is lower because it takes the company’s accountants more time to work out and record pay if they do it weekly rather than once a month. But what does this price differential imply about the grower’s discount rate? If he takes the weekly rate, on average he is getting $.90 one-half month earlier than he would get $1.05.

That implies an annual discount rate of nearly 4,000 percent — (1.05/.90)^24 – 1 –- a truly remarkable rate of impatience. Despite this, the tour guide tells me that a lot of growers do take the lower rate of pay.

So what do Hawaiian coffee growers have to do with sound Biblical finance?

They teach us the importance of planning:

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

~Proverbs 21:5

By budgeting and having a plan for their money, the more experienced coffee growers maximize their income. They don’t work any harder, but (as the old adage goes…) they work smarter. They are diligent. The have made plans which account for ‘this week’ and by doing so, they have an advantage over the other coffee growers.

As we read the story, we are tempted with judgment. I mean, what idiots! Don’t these coffee growers realize the high cost of their impatience! Well, not so fast.

Although it is easy to look at the coffee farmers with eyes of contempt, Americans are guilty of a similar crime. Although our employers do not offer flexible payment schedules like the coffee buyers, we often pay the high cost of needing money this week.

The average American household carries over $8,000 in credit card debt. The average interest rate on that debt is 18.9%. That means, the average American household is paying $1,512 in interest every year (or $126 every month).  And all of this is only credit card debt.  Add the car payment(s), boat payment, preposterous mortgage, student loans, and all of the sudden…you are paying close to a thousand dollars a month in interest.

Now that is the high cost of needing things ‘this week’. Can we now see the power of having a plan for our money?