Learning to Be Content – Through God’s Power
“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” – Dale Carnegie
Read Philippians 4:10-13
Are you content? If nothing changed in your life over the next month, or even the next year, could you say you’re contented?
Contentment isn’t a virtue our society seems to value. It’s not even encouraged. TV ads and billboards present us with many kinds of products and services to entice us. Each of these advertisements is designed with one goal in mind: to make us want things they promote, even if we don’t need those things.
In our neighborhoods we might be tempted to compare ourselves with “the Joneses” – their families, their homes, their cars. And at work there’s the inclination to look at colleagues and coworkers, thinking their positions and paychecks are better than ours.
Reading the 10 Commandments, it’s significant that the final one instructs, “You shall not covet,” whether it’s the neighbor’s house, wife, status, or possessions. Discontentment is akin to coveting, desperately desiring stuff we don’t currently possess. So, it makes sense that other commandments instruct us not to commit adultery or steal. Those also are byproducts of coveting – not being content with what we have.
The apostle Paul often pointed out that while our society and culture speak to the contrary, contentment is an important trait for all who put their trust in Jesus Christ. For instance, writing to his young protégé Timothy, Paul observed that, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6) Can someone be truly godly if they are not content with what God has given them?
Jesus Christ is our ultimate example. When He came to earth, He could have insisted on living in a palace. After all, He was – and is – the King of kings. Instead, He said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20) Jesus wasn’t complaining when He said this – He was simply making the point that serving God comes at a cost, including being willing to be content with whatever we have, whatever situation we find ourselves in, when the world around us is screaming, “More, more, more!”
Years ago, an industrialist known for his vast wealth was asked by a reporter, “Mr. Rockefeller, how much is enough?” Rockefeller looked at the reporter, held his thumb and index finger slightly apart and replied, “Just a little bit more.”
If one of the richest people in the world could make such a statement, what does that say for our relentless struggle to find contentment? It’s like reaching for the brass ring on a old merry-go-round that’s always just out of reach. It’s frustrating – and fruitless.
We find another example of someone who thought “more” was the secret to contentment in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon had devoted his life to the pursuit of pleasure, undertaking great projects, wealth, entertainment – what he called “the delights of the heart of man.”
Solomon succeeded in basically acquiring and accomplishing everything he could possibly imagine. He was even renowned for his great wisdom. After all he had done, all he had gained, what was his wise realization? “All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:17).
That sounds cynical, but at the end of the book the king was more hopeful: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man…” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Our contentment can be found in the Lord and nowhere else.
Challenges to finding contentment aren’t limited to material things, our careers and our families. We can even feel discontented spiritually, envying or feeling jealous about how God has blessed others.
For instance, someone might be a powerful, Spirit-filled speaker. ‘I wish I could speak like that,’ we might think. Another person might be especially gifted in evangelism, always pointing unsaved people to Jesus. ‘If only I could share my faith like that.’ Or the Lord might have entrusted a couple with the gift of giving, enabling them to make lavish contributions to advance the cause of the gospel. ‘I wish I had the resources to give that generously.’
This is why the insightful words of the apostle Paul are so important for us, not only to read but also to embrace. Remember, he wasn’t writing from a comfortable hotel room, sitting in an easy chair with his feet propped up, a glass of cold lemonade on a table nearby. He was writing from a dank, dark prison, knowing his days on earth were about to end.
Paul said, “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, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13)
Do you desire to become a man of God, someone who radiates the presence of Jesus when people look at you? Then learn – through His strength – to be content. Content with what you have. Content with what the Lord has you doing. Content with your family situation. And most of all, content with who God has made you – and what He is doing in your life.