Satisfaction
Satisfaction is related to the quality of life. Satisfaction comes from living righteously and seeking to raise the level of quality in relationships, service, and product. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled [satisfied]” (Matthew 5:6). Do you believe that? If you do believe what Jesus said, what would you be doing? If you aren’t hungering and thirsting after righteousness, then you really don’t believe it satisfies. What Jesus said is true of course, because nothing else really satisfies. “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Eccl. 5:10). You may be satisfied with a new car for a period of time, but you will become dissatisfied when the quality of the car deteriorates and the performance of new cars exceeds yours.
What causes a person to be dissatisfied is seldom related to what enables them to be satisfied. When people complain about the holes in the roads, the hard chairs at church, or the temperature of the auditorium, are they satisfied when their complaints are heard and the problems fixed? That is why it is so unproductive for church leaders to run around putting out fires. As soon as one is out, another one will start. They are investing their time in that which causes dissatisfactions and not on what causes people to be satisfied. What satisfies people is meaningful ministries that bear fruit and quality relationships with God and others. Seldom will you see a Christian bearing fruit who isn’t satisfied.
Satisfaction is related to quality not quantity. To raise the level of satisfaction, one has to focus on raising the quality. You will be a lot more satisfied if you do a few things well rather than a lot of things in a mediocre way. The same holds true for relationships. You don’t need a lot of superficial friends. “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). We all need a few close friends who value a quality relationship. If you are not satisfied in your marriage, you will not solve it with gifts or promises. You will only solve it by being reconciled to God and each other in a quality way.
Quality not quantity is what Jesus modeled for us. He invested most of his time with the twelve disciples. Out of those twelve, he selected only three to be with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration and the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally there was only one who stayed with Jesus at the foot of the cross whom Jesus entrusted to care for His mother.
Dr. Neil
For Spanish, see http://www.ficmm.org/blog
