Gratitude doesn’t guarantee godly contentment. Here’s why.

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

The ways we measure success suffocate us with striving, crush us with comparison, and slay us with self-doubt.

First we measure forward at the gap between us and our goals, which never satisfies. Then we measure sideward and compare ourselves to others, which makes us feel small or smug. And then we measure inward and tell ourselves that we are enough, which, we know deep down, we are not.

Thankfully, Jesus offers a more life-giving way to measure success. At the start of his public ministry, Jesus measured upward at who his Father said he was (see Matthew 3:13-17). Then he measured backward at the gifts God had already given him before asking for more (see Mark 6:30-44). And then and only then did he measure forward through the gap between him and his goal (see Luke 9:51).

Christ’s example brings us to the final principle of this series…

Principle #7: Measure Upward, Backward, and Forward — To redeem our goals in the model of our Redeemer, we will evaluate success in radically different ways than the world, measuring upward to God, backward to God’s goodness, and then forward to the results of our goals.

Secular thinkers will applaud my emphasis on measuring backward. After all, the only thing hotter than Labubus right now is Stoic gratitude. But gratitude for God’s gifts will never be enough to cultivate contentment.

You can hear this truth in The Little Mermaid when Ariel sings, “I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I’ve got twenty! But who cares? No big deal. I want more.”

Like Ariel, we will always want more if we only measure backward at the created things God has given us. Godly contentment can only be found in first measuring upward at the ultimate thing the Creator gave us on the cross: peace with God.

God once saw you as his enemy. Now he sees you as an adopted child. Christ has accomplished the biggest, hairiest, most audacious goal of your life. Measuring upward into the infinite gap Christ closed between your sin and God’s holiness will radically change how you view the relatively microscopic gaps between you and your goals.

How practically can we measure upward?

Practice #7: Swim Laps in the Pool of the Gospel

When I was younger and shared how crushing it was to measure success the world’s ways, mentors would advise me to “preach the gospel to yourself.” That answer frustrated me more than driving to Chick-fil-A and realizing it’s Sunday. I get the gospel, I’d think. Give me something practical!

A decade later, I confess they were right. As J.D. Greear says, the gospel “isn’t just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity; it is the pool itself.” We must swim laps in it constantly.

One way I do this is by regularly listening to a playlist of songs that preach the cross. Not “he thought of me above all” songs about how great I am—songs about the awesomeness of Christ and God’s love that’s secure regardless of my productivity. 

Build your own playlist today. Swim in it this week. And watch godly contentment follow.