Living in Contentment

This year I have been rereading Philippians. One section in chapter 4 strikes me every time. (Maybe not the same way each time, but I notice it every time.)

I don't say this out o need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13)

Paul writes that he has learned contentment in whatever his life is at the moment. Being content rubs hard against our culture. Our culture says, "You deserve the best. You should have more. What you have is okay but what they have is so much better and you deserve to be like them." It seems the American dream is built on discontent. The American dream and the Kingdom of God are not the same thing.

Whenever I read about Paul's contentment, I do a check on myself. I can truly say that I am content - what I have is enough and always has been enough (even if it's not the same quantity). God has always provided for us and we've never lacked what we needed. Yes, we have lacked what we sometimes wanted - we lacked when compared to peers - we have struggled from time to time, but always had what we needed.

When I look around at my life, I feel like the psalmist in Psalm 23: "The Lord is my Shepherd; there is nothing I lack."

Am I always content? No. I have to relearn this particular truth from time to time. I seem to forget what I "know" and God brings me back to it. (Like a three-year-old, I guess!) Recently as I've been thinking about these things, I realized something else - discontent is often the root cause of our troubles. Discontent shows our individual weaknesses and that is where temptation attacks. I feel discontent at the way people at work treat me and that breeds anger and resentment. I'm discontent with what I have and that leads to coveting things and taking actions to get those things. Where I feel discontent is a spiritual weakness.

Paul speaks of this, too. He writes: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." We often use this verse to communicate that Jesus helps us do anything. But read again the context Paul writes this. It's part of his comments on contentment. I've begun looking at this verse differently. Through Jesus, I can be content with whatever I have (abundance or lean times, exciting or quiet, overflowing or just enough). With that contentment, any discontent is dispelled and any spiritual weakness is strengthened. With Christ we have the strength and ability to live and enjoy our lives just as they are. When we are not striving for more, we use our energy to be thankful for what we have and glorify God for who He is.

We have the strength to live in whatever circumstances because Jesus is enough.