Mental Toughness with Contentment

Our friends got the Hawaii assignment and we’re stuck here.

The next rank up gets the good houses.

Because of our warrior’s job, we’ll always have to move more often.

Their dad got picked for Rear Detachment, so he doesn’t have to deploy.

The list of things that can be compared is never ending, and most them will leave you feeling like you got the short end of the stick. Whether it’s you or your kids doing the comparisons, comparison is a gateway drug to resentment or insecurity—all of which can become self-destructive.

We want mental toughness for ourselves and our kids. Comparison will soon have us labeling ourselves as victims. But contentment taps into a deeper power. When we trust the Lord with where we are at, who we are, and where we are going, we are strapping into the Lord’s ride instead of trying to wrestle for the controls or even refusing to get into the vehicle.

Christ gives me the strength to face anything.

Philippians 4:13 (CEV)

We have seen the verse “I can do all things through Christ” (a different translation of today’s verse) on stickers, mugs, and t-shirts. We often chant it when we want God’s turbo for our engine. But when we back up in Philippians, we see Paul laying out a very different Standard Operating Procedure. In the prior verse he says that he knows what it’s like to have little or a lot, and to live in all kinds of conditions to do the assignments God has given him. Because of Christ, he can be content in every circumstance.

Contentment is a skill, and it is a powerful weapon for our kids’ battle for mental toughness. The military will throw you into multiple scenarios to practice it—in a house with all your stuff or in a hotel with a suitcase; in peacetime with your warrior home, in unrest with your warrior deployed.

You can learn contentment by asking the Lord for it. Tune your brain into thankfulness. When one of you says something disparaging, challenge each other to think of five good things.

Lament the hard times, taking things to God in prayer, but then trust in his love and don’t wallow in grief. Fill your home with worship. Reach out to serve others. All these things will grow your family’s contentment and your ability to tap into Christ’s strength to face whatever is coming.

PRAY

Lord, we need to be mentally tough, but discontent keeps trying to breach the doors. Please help us trust you and be thankful. Help us be content in all circumstances and able to do what you would have us do. Amen.

TIME TO TALK

Conversation starter for kids: Provides you with questions and prompts to facilitate a time of applicable discussion with children to lead them towards knowing God and His Word more deeply.

Question(s): Can you think of five good things God has done for us today

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help parents expand their Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Look up the following passages for today:

Joshua 1:9

2 Corinthians 12:9–10