The document discusses the concept of contentment, emphasizing that true fulfillment comes from internal strength and a relationship with Jesus Christ rather than external achievements or material possessions. It highlights that suffering and personal experiences play a crucial role in learning this secret of contentment. Ultimately, the document contrasts superficial sources of satisfaction with the profound and lasting peace found in spiritual belief.

1. The Secret is ...
Image cc: KayVee.INC

2. The Marshmallow
Test

3. The whole world lives
in either one of two
tents

4. Content or
Discontent

5. Paul

6. I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at
last you have revived your concern for
me; indeed, you were concerned for
me, but had no opportunity to show it.

7. Not that I am referring to being in need;
for I have learned to be content with
whatever I have. I know what it is to
have little, and I know what it is to have
plenty.

8. In any and all circumstances I have
learned the secret of being well-fed and
of going hungry, of having plenty and of
being in need.

9. learned to be content
The word 'content' actually means 'contained'.
A description of the one whose resources are within
them so that they do not have to depend on
substitutes from outside of themselves.

10. learned to be content
Being 'Contained'

Women - A feeling of being held/ secure

Men - A feeling of being completely adequate to
the task
Why Women Talk and Men Walk:
How to Improve Your Relationship Without Discussing It. Patricia Love; Steven Stosny

11. I have learned the secret
Mueo means to learn the secret of something through
personal experience or as the result of initiation.
Signifies the learning of something with preparatory toil
and discipline

12. The Secret of Success

13. The Secret of Success

14. Everyone wants the secret,
but no one wants the suffering.

15. I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often,
beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s
door time after time.
I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine
lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled
with rocks once.

16. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in
the open sea for a night and a day.
In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford
rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle
with foes.

17. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country,
endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed
by those I thought were my brothers.
I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and
lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted
by the cold, naked to the weather.

18. And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the
daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches.
When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the
desperation in my bones.
When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in
my gut.
2 Corinthians 11: 23-29

19. Everyone wants the secret,
but no one wants the suffering.

20. who strengthens me.
"to put power in" (like a car needs gas for power) and so
to make strong, vigorous, to strengthen, or to be
strengthened, enabled or empowered inwardly.
refers to spiritual or moral strengthening

21. The secret of contentment is not found
in a 'what' but in a 'who'

22. Some sources of contentment and significance

My childrens success

Possessions

'Big' people's approval

Religous performance

Athletic sporting ability

Glory moments/ memories

23. Some sources of contentment and significance

Belonging to the culture, club or gang and gainnig
status from it

Feeling needed

Body image

Important persons love/ loyalty

Power over another/ subjugation of others

24. Some sources of contentment and significance

Intellectual performance

Career status/ promotion

My uniqueness/ individuality

What will happen when it fails you?

Which of these will live on for you past your last
heartbeat?

25. The only true eternal source of contentment
and significance is the presence of Jesus
Christ in me.

26. Time to get the
marshmallows
out of our life
and fill it with
rock.

27. “These words I speak to you are not incidental
additions to your life, homeowner improvements to
your standard of living.
They are foundational words, words to build a life
on. If you work these words into your life, you are
like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid
rock.
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner
improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life

28. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit
—but nothing moved that house.
It was fixed to the rock.

29. “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and
don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid
carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.
When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it
collapsed like a house of cards.” Matthew 7: 24 -27
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner
improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life

30. I can do all things through him who
strengthens me. Phillipians 4:10-13

31. The secret to contentment is to be
filled with Christ
and it is learned through the
struggles of life
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner
improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life

32. Barry Pearman
about.me: Barry Pearman
Email: barry@turningthepage.info
Twitter: @barrypearman
Website: Connection NZ - Connecting you with others through Social Media
Website: Turning the Page - Inspiring Mental Health
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner
improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life