Passionate Life: Discontent

Passionate life, part 1

I'm going to be talking more about passionate living, so if you missed part one, go check it out! What I'd like to talk about today is expectations.  Or rather, the unrealistic misperceptions that that our society has created.  Speaking from experience, I know that movies, books and songs all teach us girls that the perfect relationship is out there to make us complete.  That man is going to be incredibly handsome, smart, funny, rich, etc.  We are also bombarded with messages about what the perfect woman is supposed to look like.  Unfortunately, she doesn't look a thing like anyone I know.  

The problem is, we let these unrealistic expectations hurt us. God says that true beauty comes from the inside, from our character. Instead of using this time to grow our characters into godly people, we spend our time trying to be beautiful on the outside.  But still we find we can't measure up. It doesn't make us content.

From books, songs and movies we learn to believe all kinds of crazy things about romance. We expect that Mr. Right is going to come along and sweep us off our feet.  God says that a good marriage is built in Him.  Yet we imagine that some person is going to come along and we are magically going to feel whole, complete, and happy forever.  That craving to be loved will forever be quenched and we will never be alone.

While most of us know this isn't true, on some level, I think we still buy into it.  We are so surrounded by messages such as these that it makes it nearly impossible to ignore them completely.  However, we can't start living passionately until we let go of these false messages.  They will only serve to harm us and make us unhappy when we don't have the "perfect" life we think we should.  When we expect the perfect marriage or looks to fill us, we will always be discontented.

Instead, begin by filling yourself with God.  Let Him fill the emptiness inside.  Feel complete in Him.  Spend time developing your character instead of your outward appearance. Seek first the Kingdom of God. Only then can we let go of discontent and learn to live with true passion.

 

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