Whatever Is Excellent with Leanne Tuggle

55: Gratitude Restores Contentment

• Leanne • Season 4 • Episode 55

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Ever notice those quiet moments when the life you once prayed for shows up in plain sight—tiny socks in the laundry, laughter down the hall, a kiss at the door—and yet your heart still aches for the thing you don’t have? We lean into that tension and chart a clearer route from comparison to contentment, guided by Scripture, honest stories, and simple habits that actually stick.

We unpack gratitude as more than a feeling or a seasonal hashtag—it’s a practiced choice to acknowledge God’s goodness in all circumstances. Drawing from 1 Thessalonians 5 and Philippians 4, we explore how contentment is learned in both feast and famine, and how “I can do all things” is really about the strength to be steady when life swings wide. With insights from Melissa Kruger’s The Envy of Eve, we name how coveting starts when we suspect God is holding out on us, and how that suspicion fuels comparison that drains joy. You’ll hear candid moments of envy—from distance from family to a first year of marriage marked by deployment—and the practical ways gratitude reframed each season without denying the pain.

From there, we move into doable rhythms: start your day with a short prayer of thanks, notice beauty in the ordinary (full gas tanks, crowded counters, messy desks that signal provision and purpose), speak gratitude aloud so your home can hear it, and redirect comparison the moment it surfaces with praise and remembrance. Philippians 2 calls us to shine without grumbling; gratitude becomes the daily resistance that keeps our tone soft and our witness bright. Along the way, we revisit Psalm 16’s language of portion and inheritance and close with the renewing cadence of Psalm 103, a reminder that forgiveness, healing, redemption, steadfast love, and true satisfaction are already at work in us.

If this conversation helps you trade striving for steadiness, share it with a friend who needs that shift today. Subscribe for more faith-filled, practical episodes, and leave a review to tell us one small blessing you’re naming this week. Your story might spark someone else’s gratitude.


Recommended Reading:

The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger

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Leanne:

Have you ever had a moment when you were in the middle of something, but then you looked around and you realized that you were living what you once prayed for? Perhaps you were folding this mountain of laundry, and then the sight of those tiny little socks reminds you that you once prayed for a house full of children. Or maybe you're cooking dinner and you hear your kids playing upstairs and you remember when you prayed for a sibling for your firstborn. Maybe it's your husband giving you a kiss before heading off to work, or your grandchild sending you a picture that he colored in mail. Your desk at work cluttered with evidence of great ideas that you're turning into successful projects. But what about the moments when our hopes and dreams don't pan out? When our unmet expectations lead to disappointment and sorrow, or maybe even anger? What about when you look over and you see someone else living the life you wish you had? What then? Today I want to unpack how it is that gratitude shifts our perspective from comparison to contentment. As women of excellence, it is a grateful heart that allows us to continue to embrace excellence even in the midst of our ordinary, even when we're struggling with the sin of coveting. It's November, and that means that everyone is talking about gratitude or giving thanks and being so hashtag blessed. But gratitude isn't seasonal, it isn't a feeling or even a hashtag. Gratitude is a choice to acknowledge God's goodness. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5.18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This means that we are to give thanks even when our current situation feels unfair or lacking. It is gratitude that makes embracing excellence possible. Gratitude anchors us in what is true and good and right. Paul shares his secret to contentment in Philippians 4, 11 through 13. He says, Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. We hear that last verse a lot, and yet in context, we find that this verse applies to being content in all circumstances. Honestly, that does require supernatural strength. It isn't easy to be content, especially in a world that is constantly striving for more. A discontented heart is often rooted in comparison or coveting, and this leads to striving. But as a woman of excellence, you are seeking wholehearted devotion to God in all that you do. Colossians 3, 15 through 17, some of my favorite verses, says, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Here we see that gratitude and praise are intertwined with excellence. I recently finished reading The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger, and much of what she discusses in her book I found applicable to this topic. She talks about coveting and what it is, which is a desire for something that God has not yet given, and how this distorts our view of his goodness. You can trace this doubt and unbelief all the way back to the garden in Genesis chapter 3, when the serpent said to Eve, Did God really say? Her response to the serpent revealed the beginnings of her discontentment. Was God holding out on her? Melissa Kruger explains it this way in her book. Coveting begins when we believe God has withheld something good from us. Coveting then leads to comparison, which robs us of joy, or in this case, it steals our gratitude. Excellence, on the other hand, requires our trust. Trusting that God's portion for you is enough. Choosing to be grateful for what you have restores contentment. And while I loved the opportunity to live in a charming fairy tale-like village, I was envious of my friends who lived close to their family. I longed for my daughter to know her grandparents and spend time with them. I felt alone and isolated, and I struggled with being content in that season when everything seemed so much harder because we were so far away. And then even before that, I remember feeling jealous of a friend of mine who got married just two weeks after I did. While my husband deployed directly from our honeymoon, she got to enjoy the blessings of being a newlywed right away. I resented the fact that I had to wait for my husband to return and that I only got to spend three months collectively with him during that first year of marriage. It just didn't seem fair. But you see, that's the thing about unmet expectations or comparison or envy. Doubt creeps in and drains our gratitude so that all that is left is disappointment. And then it becomes nearly impossible to embrace excellence because our hearts are so full of grumbling and complaining. James 3:16 says it this way: For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. Yikes. And yet, gratitude shifts our focus from what we lack to what God has entrusted to us. A few weeks ago, my lovely friend Emily shared these verses from Psalm 16, 5 and 6. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Friend, do you believe that? Unbelief is the root of nearly all sin. When we doubt God's goodness and sovereignty, we stop believing that He has our best in mind. And we start to think that the object of our desire or that thing that we are striving for is more important than the one who gives all the good and perfect gifts. Instead, I think sometimes God allows us to experience discontentment so that we come back to Him as our true source of life. And as have we and as we have talked about before, peace, joy, and contentment come when we abide in Christ, when we stay connected to the vine, as it says in John 15. Choosing to cultivate gratitude is honestly counter-cultural. The world loves to complain, to take offense, and to demand that things be more fair. Philippians 2, 14 and 15 says, Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. I don't know about you, but I want to shine my light bright. And my heart already feels lighter just thinking about all the ways that God is faithful and loving towards me. I love this quote from the Envy of Eve that says, Contentment is not settling for less. It's trusting that God has already given what's best. So as you go about your next few weeks and months, as we edge closer to some of the most consumer-driven and emotionally charged days of the year, choose to be different by cultivating a grateful heart. Start your day with Thanksgiving. Perhaps a short and sweet prayer thanking the Lord for this day. And then name a few specific blessings. Make a point to notice beauty in the ordinary. Like a full tank of gas so that you can take your kids to all of their activities. Or the groceries all over your counter means that you have enough food to feed your family this week. Speak gratitude aloud. Set an encouraging example to others around you by replacing your complaints with those. They'll notice. And finally, reject comparison. As soon as you notice your heart and mind drifting in that direction, redirect with praise and worship. To close this episode, I want to read Psalm 103, 1 through 5 to you. This Psalm is David's praise and worship to God. It is my hope that you can remember these words when you feel disappointed or when you start to doubt God's goodness in your life. I pray that these words refresh your heart and mind and restore contentment through gratitude. Psalm 103, 1 through 5. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.