The Joy of Contentment
One of the key elements of successful living is the art of being content. It's funny, but contentment is similar to humility in some ways. The moment you think you have learned humility you realize how proud you are of yourself! The moment you think you are content with life, some shiny object attracts your desires. It's really a never ending process in some ways.
However, Paul the apostle taught us how we can truly be content with what we possess, and I want to share his explanation today. If you have read Philippians 4:10-14 you immediately see several things that contentment involves. First, it's not about having everything you want, and, therefore, needing nothing! That is an impossibility. We always want more even when we have all we want at any given time. Someone asked Joe Louis, the great boxer how much money it took to make him happy, and he replied, "Just a little more, just a little more." In our passage Paul gives four clear principles which show us something about the art of being content. Here are the first two.
I. Contentment does not depend on others around me. vs 10.
You remember that Paul was imprisoned at the time he wrote this epistle, and he was completely dependent upon his friends and cohorts for his needs to be met. The church at Philippi had sent him a gift before, but for some reason they had not been in a position to help him for some time. For most of us, that would have been the end of a relationship! Not Paul. You see Paul's trust in God removed ultimate responsibility for his personal care from all others. He held no one in contempt for his contentment with life! That is such a powerful truth. Imagine not holding anyone else in your life responsible for your own personal contentment level! Then there is the next principle in vs 11.
II. Contentment is a learned behavior vs 11
Here the apostle demonstrates that this virtue is something which requires a whole litany of life experience to learn. It can't be learned overnight. You can't pray for it. It is not a specific spiritual gift that someone may possess. It is a learned behavior though a whole bunch of lived life. I like that. I like it because everyone learns it the same way I do; living experience. The word learned in this verse is a word for just that, life experiences. The problem here is that you can have gobs of life experience and still not completely learn something. We have very hard heads sometimes! Usually life teaches us contentment through the many times we don't have two nickels to rub together. That’s when we learn to appreciate what we have and not grieve over what we don't have. But, if you are not careful, the moment you are no longer in that condition you quickly forget what that experience taught you!
Let's remember these first two principles until next time and see it we can make them a part of our own contentment quotient when we add the last two.
However, Paul the apostle taught us how we can truly be content with what we possess, and I want to share his explanation today. If you have read Philippians 4:10-14 you immediately see several things that contentment involves. First, it's not about having everything you want, and, therefore, needing nothing! That is an impossibility. We always want more even when we have all we want at any given time. Someone asked Joe Louis, the great boxer how much money it took to make him happy, and he replied, "Just a little more, just a little more." In our passage Paul gives four clear principles which show us something about the art of being content. Here are the first two.
I. Contentment does not depend on others around me. vs 10.
You remember that Paul was imprisoned at the time he wrote this epistle, and he was completely dependent upon his friends and cohorts for his needs to be met. The church at Philippi had sent him a gift before, but for some reason they had not been in a position to help him for some time. For most of us, that would have been the end of a relationship! Not Paul. You see Paul's trust in God removed ultimate responsibility for his personal care from all others. He held no one in contempt for his contentment with life! That is such a powerful truth. Imagine not holding anyone else in your life responsible for your own personal contentment level! Then there is the next principle in vs 11.
II. Contentment is a learned behavior vs 11
Here the apostle demonstrates that this virtue is something which requires a whole litany of life experience to learn. It can't be learned overnight. You can't pray for it. It is not a specific spiritual gift that someone may possess. It is a learned behavior though a whole bunch of lived life. I like that. I like it because everyone learns it the same way I do; living experience. The word learned in this verse is a word for just that, life experiences. The problem here is that you can have gobs of life experience and still not completely learn something. We have very hard heads sometimes! Usually life teaches us contentment through the many times we don't have two nickels to rub together. That’s when we learn to appreciate what we have and not grieve over what we don't have. But, if you are not careful, the moment you are no longer in that condition you quickly forget what that experience taught you!
Let's remember these first two principles until next time and see it we can make them a part of our own contentment quotient when we add the last two.
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