Hold Your Blessings with an Open Hand

张开双手，拥抱祝福

Aug 16, 2017

“There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it”(1 Timothy 6:6-7 NRSV).

“其实，敬虔加上知足就是大利。因为我们没有带什么到世上来，也不能带什么去。”（提前 6：6-7 和修）

God is more interested in your character than your comfort. He’s not going to give you things if you haven’t learned the principle of contentment first.

上帝对你的性格比你的舒适更感兴趣。如果你还没有学会“首先满足”原则，那他就不会给你一些事情。

Contentment is not a lack of ambition. It’s not a lack of goals. Contentment means your happiness doesn’t depend on your circumstances.

满足并不是没有志向。这并不缺乏目标。满足意味着你的喜乐并不被你的环境左右。

How do you eliminate discontent? You eliminate the cause: comparing. We compare everything in this country — lawns, cars, husbands and wives, clothes, the education of our kids (we even put “My Kid Was Student of the Month” on car bumpers).

你如何消除不满足呢？你不满足的原因：比较。在我们国家里，所有的事情都在比较——草坪、车、丈夫或妻子、衣服、我们孩子的教育（我们甚至将“我的孩子是本月的优秀学生”放在汽车的保险杠上）。

Whenever you compare, you’re going to become discontent. You’ve got to learn to stop comparing yourself to others.

不管你什么时候比较，你都在变得不满足。你必须学会停止与别人比较。

Paul says in Philippians 4:12a,“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation”(NIV). Contentment does not come naturally; it is something we have to learn. If we do this, God promises to meet all our financial needs.

保罗在腓立比书4：12说到：“我知道怎样处卑贱，也知道怎样处丰富；或饱足或饥饿，或有余或缺乏，任何事情，任何景况，我都得了秘诀。”（和修） 满足不是自然而然的；这是我们需要学习的一些事情。如果我们这样做，上帝就会应许我们的一切经济需要。

The Bible says,“There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it”(1 Timothy 6:6-7 NRSV).

圣经说：“其实，敬虔加上知足就是大利。因为我们没有带什么到世上来，也不能带什么去。”（提前 6：6-7 和修）

One of the greatest secrets in learning to be content is to realize that you don’t really own anything. It’s all on loan to you for about 80 years! You didn’t bring a single thing into this world, and you’re not going to carry anything out of it, either. You just get to use it while you’re here on earth. The Bible calls that stewardship. You are the manager or steward of what God allows you to have while you’re here, but it’s not really yours. When you understand that you’re just a manager of the blessings God allows in your life and you hold them with an open hand, you won’t be uptight about losing them.

学习满足的重要秘诀之一就是意识到你并没有什么。这只不过是借给你80年左右而已！你没有带任何简单的东西来到世上，也不会把任何东西带走。你只是你在世的时候用它。圣经称之为“管理”。你在管理哪些上帝允许你在这里所拥有的，但是并不是你的。当你理解你只是一个管理，那赐福的上帝允许你在这里拥有之物，并且你张开了双手抱住它们，你就担心失去它们。

So what if you lose things? God can turn off one faucet and turn on another just as easily. Learn to be content, because things don’t last. God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

那么，如果你失去了呢？上帝可以关掉一个水龙头，也可以很简单的打开另一个。学习满足，因为事情不会持久。上帝对你的性格比你的舒适更感兴趣。