UNEMPLOYED? How You Can Live on Less

Cultivating Contentment

Our viewpoint can affect our emotions.  Thus, the Bible urges this mental attitude:  "Having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things." (1 Timothy 6:8) Being content means limiting our wants  and being satisfied  when our daily needs are met.  Striving to satisfy the desire for more will only undermine your efforts to simplify. -Mark 4:19. 

Renee was able to cultivate contentment after taking a realistic look at her situation.  She says:  "We have never been without lights or gas, nor have we been put out on the street.  The real problem was that living like this was not what we were used to, and my unrealistic desire to maintain our former way of living intensified my distress.

Renee soon realized that it was her viewpoint-not her circumstances-that made things seem unbearable.  "I had to face the reality of our situation and not dwell on the way I wanted it to be." she says.  "Once I developed contentment with what God provided each day, I found that I was a lot happier.  

The right viewpoint is the first step in facing up to the challenge of living on less.  But what practical steps can you take when your income has been compromised by unemployment?   

Next time: UNEMPLOYED? How You Can Live on Less - Something More Important Than Income 

From the Awake! magazine