Philippians 4:10-14
Christian Contentment
When you think of the name, J.D. Rockefeller, you think of wealth. Having made his fortune in oil at the turn of the 20th century, he is argued by some to be the wealthiest man in history. He is the first American to have had a personal net worth of 1 Billion dollars. Someone once asked Mr. Rockefeller, “How much money is enough?” He thought for a moment and said, “A little more than what one has.”
What a way to define what discontentment is: To always be wanting a little more than what you already have. To never happy with what you have, and always want more. What a way to go through life.
I wonder if Mr. Rockefeller ever read the Bible. If he had, he might have come across the book of Ecclesiastes, and he might have read these words, “I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.”
You don’t have to have money to love it. When a man loves money and wealth and achievement, when he’s trying to keep up with Jones’s and out-do them, that man will never be satisfied. That man will live loving things; he will labor for things, and he will ultimately lose out on life. Proverbs says that “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy - discontentment - will rot the bones.”
Do you find your bones rotting in some way because of discontentment? Are you unsatisfied with what you have, or where you are at, or who you are with? Have you ever thought “My job isn’t enough. My income isn’t enough. My spouse isn’t enough. My image isn’t enough. My parents aren’t enough. What I have isn’t enough. I want and I need more - and I won’t be happy unless I have it.”
Discontentment can spoil a life. Benjamin Franklin said, “Contentment makes a poor man rich, and, discontentment makes a rich man poor.”
If you have your Bible with you, please turn to Philippians 4. We are moving our way into the last section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul is going to talk about contentment. You may remember that the Philippians had sent Paul gifts so that his needs were taken care of, and, he is now going to express his gratitude for their generosity. As we read his words we find some great truths for us today regarding Christian Contentment.
“I rejoice greatly that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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 ande every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
Now, just before he starts this last section, he said in verse 9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice.” They are about to have another lesson from Paul that they are to put into practice - contentment. Paul wants them to know the contentment he has so that they can put it into practice.
And for good reason, they were in shaky circumstances. They were suffering persecution (1:27-30) and they were poor. We know they were poor because Paul mentioned it in another letter of his - in his second letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 8 verses 1 through 3 he says, “Brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, even beyond their ability.”
So, with the poverty and the persecution the Philippian church was facing, Paul wanted them to see that in those circumstances they were still to be content. They were to rejoice in the Lord and rejoice always. They were to keep content because a discontent church cannot rejoice in the Lord.
Before we get too far, let’s look a little more closely at this word, this virtue of contentment.
The Greek word Paul uses for contentment means to be self-sufficient. The Stoic philosophers spoke of this self-sufficiency as a man‘s self-reliance, or self-dependence in the pressures of life. A man found within himself the fortitude to handle calmly the circumstances he was in. Contentment in Stoic philosophy was the determination a man made within himself not to be disturbed with what happens to him in life. He relied on his own strength to be content.
Paul says he has learned to be self-sufficient, or content, whatever the circumstances …… This seems to be a humanistic attitude by Paul. How can he say he is self-sufficient and needs no one? Is he adopting unbiblical methods to have contentment like the pagan Stoic philosophers?
No. The difference is that Paul is in need of nothing and no one apart from Christ to be content. His contentment, his sufficiency, is in Christ. When Paul says he is content, or self-sufficient, it is because he has the Spirit of the all-Sufficient One, Jesus Christ, within him-self. (Galatians 2:20, “I no longer live, but, Christ lives in me…”). He is relying not on his own strength within him, but, on Christ’s strength within him. That’s how he can be content apart from any circumstances; that’s how he can be sufficient without any other human aid. In Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at some of the characteristics of this Christian Contentment Paul describes he has.
Contentment is Learned
First, Contentment is learned. Notice verses 11 and 12 again. “…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” And in verse 12, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…” Paul says twice that he has learned to be content. It didn’t come natural to him. He wasn‘t content automatically when he was saved.
Charles Spurgeon says, “contentment is not a natural propensity of man….we need not teach men how to complain, they complain fast enough without any education.” Contentment wasn’t natural for Paul, and it’s not that way with us either. Just like Paul, we have to learn the secret of being content in any and every situation.
The Greek word for secret is an interesting word. It was a technical term for the mystery religions and it meant “to initiate”. It referred to those pagan mysteries that could only be known by an elite few who had been initiated.
Paul borrows the word to say that he has been initiated into the knowledge of contentment. He knows what few know - he knows the secret to being content in any and every situation. He uses the term to convey the place of contentment he has achieved as a Christian.
Contentment is learned as we learn to trust more in the Lord‘s Word. Paul gives us a great illustration of this in 2 Corinthians 12. There, Paul says God had shown him things that he was not permitted to speak of. And to keep him from becoming arrogant, he was given a thorn in his flesh. No one knows for sure what this “thorn” was, but, Paul pleaded with God 3 times to take it away from him. ………….God doesn’t.
Paul was in a situation he didn’t want to be in; there was something in his life he didn’t want; there was something he had to go through that he didn’t want to go through. And God says something to Paul that completely changes his attitude. He says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul now realized that he was sufficiently supplied with God’s grace to endure his circumstances. Because he learned to trust God‘s Word, he learned to be content. We see him go from begging God to take away this thorn, to boasting about it. As a matter of fact, Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
He’s not strong with his own strength, but, with the strength and power of Christ. The power of God’s Word to give us contentment cannot be underestimated. Just like Paul learned to trust God’s Word to be content with his circumstances, we too need to trust God’s Word. We too need our attitudes and perspectives shaped by Scriptures. Treasure it and trust it and you will learn to be content - you will learn the sufficiency of Christ - in all circumstances.
Contentment is not by Circumstances or Possessions
Another characteristic of Christian Contentment we learn from Paul is that it does not come from circumstances, or possessions. Notice again verses 11 and 12, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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.”
The contentment we have in Christ, is not limited by our circumstances. We’re not bound to discontentment over situations because we’re bound to someone else - we’re bound to Christ. Philippians 2:1, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ…”
"Someone tells of a king who was discontented. In fact he was so anxious, he couldn't sleep, rest, or think. He called his wise men and asked them what he could do.
One very old and very wise man said, "Find a man in your kingdom who is content, then wear his shirt for a day and a night, and you will be content."
That sounded like a good idea to the king, so he ordered some of his servants to search for such a person.
Days blended into weeks before his servants returned. "Well," said the king, "did you find a contented man?"
"Yes, sire," his servant replied.
"Where is his shirt?" asked the king.
"Your majesty, he didn't have one." [hurdles, glitches p. 162]
Contentment doesn’t come from possessions and circumstances. In 1 Timothy 6:6, Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” The Bible says the greatest increases in your life come with godliness … and contentment with what you have.
Be content, pursue godliness. Unfortunately though, too many people get it backwards. People are discontent with what little goods they have, but, they are content with the what little godliness they have.
But, the Bible says to be content with the things you have and always be discontent with your godliness -always want more, always pursue more …Paul would say to Timothy a couple verses later, “pursue righteousness and godliness”. We are to be like the Psalmist in Psalm 119 who says, “My soul is consumed with longing for your [word] at all times. How I long for your precepts!” And Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
There will be no filling for those who are driven by discontentment and run after more and more and more. Their appetites dictate their values when it should be the other way around. Their values should control their appetites.
Paul describes people like that in chapter 3 of Philippians: “Their god is their stomach (that is, their appetite for carnal things), their glory is in their shame, their mind is on earthly things” They can never be content because they look to fill themselves with the things of this world, and the circumstances of life for their fulfillment.
But contentment does not come from possessions, pleasures or good circumstances.
Contentment by Christ’s Strength
Thirdly, we see Paul’s Contentment comes by Christ’s strength. Notice verse 13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
There is nothing Paul faced that he could not handle because Christ was His strength. He knew Jesus said, “With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible.“ He didn’t rely on his own ability; he didn‘t consider himself to be self-sufficient. He wasn’t like the Stoics in that he was just determined to be indifferent by any and all circumstances. He relied on the strength given to him by Christ. Being in Christ meant he was sufficiently supplied with all he needed to do all that he was called by God‘s Word to do. Resist sin? He can do it. Rejoice in the Lord always? He can do it. Have peace that transcends all understanding? He has it. Have courage? He can do it. Be content? He has learned that secret - all because of the strength his omnipotent God has supplied to him that has made him sufficient to face any and all things.
I read an interesting anecdote this week:
Most people own a calendar or an appointment book in which they record details of future commitments. A Christian friend of mine uses one in the opposite way. He doesn't record key activities until after they've taken place.
Here's his approach: Each morning he prays, "Lord, I go forth in Your strength alone. Please use me as You wish." Then, whenever he accomplishes something unusual or difficult, he records it in his diary in the evening.
For example, he may write, "Today I was enabled to share my testimony with a friend." "Today God enabled me to overcome my fear through faith." "Today I was enabled to help and encourage a troubled person."
My friend uses the word enabled because he knows he couldn't do these things without God's help. By recording each "enabling," he is giving God all the glory. Relying constantly on God's strength, he can testify with the apostle Paul and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
God‘s strength is available to us because God Himself is always available to us. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have” …………Why? ………. “Because, God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” The Companionship of the All-Sufficient God is the source of our contentment. In our relationship with Him what can we possibly lack? He is everything, how can we be missing anything?
Psalm 73:25-26 says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
God is the strength of my heart. I can do all things through Him who is gives me strength and is the strength of my heart.
Conclusion
Malcolm Muggeridge one of England's most articulate journalists summed up his pursuit of pleasure:
I may, I suppose, regard myself, or pass for being, as a relatively successful man. People occasionally stare at me in the streets--that's fame.
I easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes of the Internal Revenue--that's success. Furnished with money and a little fame even the elderly, if they care to, may partake of trendy diversions-- that's pleasure. It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote … represented a serious impact on our time--that's fulfillment.
Yet I say to you -- and I beg you to believe me--multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing--less than nothing, a positive impediment--measured against one drop of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty, irrespective of who or what they are.”
You can multiply the treasures of this world by a million, add them all together and they are nothing compared to Christ.
What is the desire of your heart? Is it wealth? Second Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.”
What is the desire of your heart? Is it position? Ephesians 1 says we’ve been adopted as sons of God in Christ. 1 Peter chapter 2 says we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood.
What is the desire of your heart? Jesus said, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? What in the world are you trying to gain outside of Christ? What is it that Christ doesn’t have that you need? Contentment is learned. It is not found in possessions or circumstances. And Christian Contentment only comes from Christ’s strength.
Christian Contentment
When you think of the name, J.D. Rockefeller, you think of wealth. Having made his fortune in oil at the turn of the 20th century, he is argued by some to be the wealthiest man in history. He is the first American to have had a personal net worth of 1 Billion dollars. Someone once asked Mr. Rockefeller, “How much money is enough?” He thought for a moment and said, “A little more than what one has.”
What a way to define what discontentment is: To always be wanting a little more than what you already have. To never happy with what you have, and always want more. What a way to go through life.
I wonder if Mr. Rockefeller ever read the Bible. If he had, he might have come across the book of Ecclesiastes, and he might have read these words, “I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.”
You don’t have to have money to love it. When a man loves money and wealth and achievement, when he’s trying to keep up with Jones’s and out-do them, that man will never be satisfied. That man will live loving things; he will labor for things, and he will ultimately lose out on life. Proverbs says that “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy - discontentment - will rot the bones.”
Do you find your bones rotting in some way because of discontentment? Are you unsatisfied with what you have, or where you are at, or who you are with? Have you ever thought “My job isn’t enough. My income isn’t enough. My spouse isn’t enough. My image isn’t enough. My parents aren’t enough. What I have isn’t enough. I want and I need more - and I won’t be happy unless I have it.”
Discontentment can spoil a life. Benjamin Franklin said, “Contentment makes a poor man rich, and, discontentment makes a rich man poor.”
If you have your Bible with you, please turn to Philippians 4. We are moving our way into the last section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul is going to talk about contentment. You may remember that the Philippians had sent Paul gifts so that his needs were taken care of, and, he is now going to express his gratitude for their generosity. As we read his words we find some great truths for us today regarding Christian Contentment.
“I rejoice greatly that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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 ande every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
Now, just before he starts this last section, he said in verse 9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice.” They are about to have another lesson from Paul that they are to put into practice - contentment. Paul wants them to know the contentment he has so that they can put it into practice.
And for good reason, they were in shaky circumstances. They were suffering persecution (1:27-30) and they were poor. We know they were poor because Paul mentioned it in another letter of his - in his second letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 8 verses 1 through 3 he says, “Brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, even beyond their ability.”
So, with the poverty and the persecution the Philippian church was facing, Paul wanted them to see that in those circumstances they were still to be content. They were to rejoice in the Lord and rejoice always. They were to keep content because a discontent church cannot rejoice in the Lord.
Before we get too far, let’s look a little more closely at this word, this virtue of contentment.
The Greek word Paul uses for contentment means to be self-sufficient. The Stoic philosophers spoke of this self-sufficiency as a man‘s self-reliance, or self-dependence in the pressures of life. A man found within himself the fortitude to handle calmly the circumstances he was in. Contentment in Stoic philosophy was the determination a man made within himself not to be disturbed with what happens to him in life. He relied on his own strength to be content.
Paul says he has learned to be self-sufficient, or content, whatever the circumstances …… This seems to be a humanistic attitude by Paul. How can he say he is self-sufficient and needs no one? Is he adopting unbiblical methods to have contentment like the pagan Stoic philosophers?
No. The difference is that Paul is in need of nothing and no one apart from Christ to be content. His contentment, his sufficiency, is in Christ. When Paul says he is content, or self-sufficient, it is because he has the Spirit of the all-Sufficient One, Jesus Christ, within him-self. (Galatians 2:20, “I no longer live, but, Christ lives in me…”). He is relying not on his own strength within him, but, on Christ’s strength within him. That’s how he can be content apart from any circumstances; that’s how he can be sufficient without any other human aid. In Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at some of the characteristics of this Christian Contentment Paul describes he has.
Contentment is Learned
First, Contentment is learned. Notice verses 11 and 12 again. “…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” And in verse 12, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…” Paul says twice that he has learned to be content. It didn’t come natural to him. He wasn‘t content automatically when he was saved.
Charles Spurgeon says, “contentment is not a natural propensity of man….we need not teach men how to complain, they complain fast enough without any education.” Contentment wasn’t natural for Paul, and it’s not that way with us either. Just like Paul, we have to learn the secret of being content in any and every situation.
The Greek word for secret is an interesting word. It was a technical term for the mystery religions and it meant “to initiate”. It referred to those pagan mysteries that could only be known by an elite few who had been initiated.
Paul borrows the word to say that he has been initiated into the knowledge of contentment. He knows what few know - he knows the secret to being content in any and every situation. He uses the term to convey the place of contentment he has achieved as a Christian.
Contentment is learned as we learn to trust more in the Lord‘s Word. Paul gives us a great illustration of this in 2 Corinthians 12. There, Paul says God had shown him things that he was not permitted to speak of. And to keep him from becoming arrogant, he was given a thorn in his flesh. No one knows for sure what this “thorn” was, but, Paul pleaded with God 3 times to take it away from him. ………….God doesn’t.
Paul was in a situation he didn’t want to be in; there was something in his life he didn’t want; there was something he had to go through that he didn’t want to go through. And God says something to Paul that completely changes his attitude. He says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul now realized that he was sufficiently supplied with God’s grace to endure his circumstances. Because he learned to trust God‘s Word, he learned to be content. We see him go from begging God to take away this thorn, to boasting about it. As a matter of fact, Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
He’s not strong with his own strength, but, with the strength and power of Christ. The power of God’s Word to give us contentment cannot be underestimated. Just like Paul learned to trust God’s Word to be content with his circumstances, we too need to trust God’s Word. We too need our attitudes and perspectives shaped by Scriptures. Treasure it and trust it and you will learn to be content - you will learn the sufficiency of Christ - in all circumstances.
Contentment is not by Circumstances or Possessions
Another characteristic of Christian Contentment we learn from Paul is that it does not come from circumstances, or possessions. Notice again verses 11 and 12, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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.”
The contentment we have in Christ, is not limited by our circumstances. We’re not bound to discontentment over situations because we’re bound to someone else - we’re bound to Christ. Philippians 2:1, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ…”
"Someone tells of a king who was discontented. In fact he was so anxious, he couldn't sleep, rest, or think. He called his wise men and asked them what he could do.
One very old and very wise man said, "Find a man in your kingdom who is content, then wear his shirt for a day and a night, and you will be content."
That sounded like a good idea to the king, so he ordered some of his servants to search for such a person.
Days blended into weeks before his servants returned. "Well," said the king, "did you find a contented man?"
"Yes, sire," his servant replied.
"Where is his shirt?" asked the king.
"Your majesty, he didn't have one." [hurdles, glitches p. 162]
Contentment doesn’t come from possessions and circumstances. In 1 Timothy 6:6, Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” The Bible says the greatest increases in your life come with godliness … and contentment with what you have.
Be content, pursue godliness. Unfortunately though, too many people get it backwards. People are discontent with what little goods they have, but, they are content with the what little godliness they have.
But, the Bible says to be content with the things you have and always be discontent with your godliness -always want more, always pursue more …Paul would say to Timothy a couple verses later, “pursue righteousness and godliness”. We are to be like the Psalmist in Psalm 119 who says, “My soul is consumed with longing for your [word] at all times. How I long for your precepts!” And Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
There will be no filling for those who are driven by discontentment and run after more and more and more. Their appetites dictate their values when it should be the other way around. Their values should control their appetites.
Paul describes people like that in chapter 3 of Philippians: “Their god is their stomach (that is, their appetite for carnal things), their glory is in their shame, their mind is on earthly things” They can never be content because they look to fill themselves with the things of this world, and the circumstances of life for their fulfillment.
But contentment does not come from possessions, pleasures or good circumstances.
Contentment by Christ’s Strength
Thirdly, we see Paul’s Contentment comes by Christ’s strength. Notice verse 13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
There is nothing Paul faced that he could not handle because Christ was His strength. He knew Jesus said, “With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible.“ He didn’t rely on his own ability; he didn‘t consider himself to be self-sufficient. He wasn’t like the Stoics in that he was just determined to be indifferent by any and all circumstances. He relied on the strength given to him by Christ. Being in Christ meant he was sufficiently supplied with all he needed to do all that he was called by God‘s Word to do. Resist sin? He can do it. Rejoice in the Lord always? He can do it. Have peace that transcends all understanding? He has it. Have courage? He can do it. Be content? He has learned that secret - all because of the strength his omnipotent God has supplied to him that has made him sufficient to face any and all things.
I read an interesting anecdote this week:
Most people own a calendar or an appointment book in which they record details of future commitments. A Christian friend of mine uses one in the opposite way. He doesn't record key activities until after they've taken place.
Here's his approach: Each morning he prays, "Lord, I go forth in Your strength alone. Please use me as You wish." Then, whenever he accomplishes something unusual or difficult, he records it in his diary in the evening.
For example, he may write, "Today I was enabled to share my testimony with a friend." "Today God enabled me to overcome my fear through faith." "Today I was enabled to help and encourage a troubled person."
My friend uses the word enabled because he knows he couldn't do these things without God's help. By recording each "enabling," he is giving God all the glory. Relying constantly on God's strength, he can testify with the apostle Paul and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
God‘s strength is available to us because God Himself is always available to us. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have” …………Why? ………. “Because, God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” The Companionship of the All-Sufficient God is the source of our contentment. In our relationship with Him what can we possibly lack? He is everything, how can we be missing anything?
Psalm 73:25-26 says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
God is the strength of my heart. I can do all things through Him who is gives me strength and is the strength of my heart.
Conclusion
Malcolm Muggeridge one of England's most articulate journalists summed up his pursuit of pleasure:
I may, I suppose, regard myself, or pass for being, as a relatively successful man. People occasionally stare at me in the streets--that's fame.
I easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes of the Internal Revenue--that's success. Furnished with money and a little fame even the elderly, if they care to, may partake of trendy diversions-- that's pleasure. It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote … represented a serious impact on our time--that's fulfillment.
Yet I say to you -- and I beg you to believe me--multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing--less than nothing, a positive impediment--measured against one drop of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty, irrespective of who or what they are.”
You can multiply the treasures of this world by a million, add them all together and they are nothing compared to Christ.
What is the desire of your heart? Is it wealth? Second Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.”
What is the desire of your heart? Is it position? Ephesians 1 says we’ve been adopted as sons of God in Christ. 1 Peter chapter 2 says we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood.
What is the desire of your heart? Jesus said, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? What in the world are you trying to gain outside of Christ? What is it that Christ doesn’t have that you need? Contentment is learned. It is not found in possessions or circumstances. And Christian Contentment only comes from Christ’s strength.
Comments
Post a Comment