I have decided to start a series on contentment since this is a subject that is important to maintain a strong walk in Christ. It is hard to hold discontentment in our hearts and not house one of its nefarious siblings: jealousy, envy, greed, lust, and selfish ambition. All of these anti-values mar the Christian testimony and render Satan effective in his schemes for our lives.
For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
James 3:16
If we look around at our community of friends, coworkers, and family, we will see that many people, and even Christians, in today’s world are continually seeking something to bring them contentment or joy. They could be seeking achievement, relationships, pleasure, leisure, investments, alcohol, hobbies and toys, even showy acts of service, our own earthly kingdom in family or work, or simply busyness to distract from discontentment. Most of these are not wrong in their own right, but they are wrong when they fill the hole in our lives that only God can fill. They are wrong when they become idols that we expect to bring us contentment and joy.
Why do we seek these things for contentment? I think it is because they do give a temporary, fleeting contentment or joy. However, when they stop providing that temporary happiness, we then might blame that object of our affections that gave us temporary joy and think that somehow we need to put more effort into that object, really an idol, until it starts to reproduce that contentment or joy we thought we once had. Else, we switch to another idol of choice since we have now forgotten how it also failed us in the past.
What are some tangible examples? Maybe we place our hopes in our children, and we place undue burdens on them when they fail to provide us contentment with their achievements. Maybe we place it in a relationship or spouse and become bitter when they don’t value us. We might seek contentment in building an empire at work, which would cause us to exercise some quite unhealthy behaviors to support allies in our network and harm others. This discontentment and self-seeking can manifest itself in a myriad of ways.
The reality is that contentment is not based on our circumstances or these seemingly tangible aspects of our lives. The Apostle Paul sacrificed religious standing, prosperity, and relative safety for the gospel of Christ. He followed Christ in an ancient and brutal Roman world with jealous Pharisaical Jewish leaders where he suffered imprisonment and harassment. Despite all of these hardships, Paul wrote,
Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Philippians 4:11-12
Had Paul followed the easy and wide road as a Pharisee, he would have seen the temple where he worshiped demolished, seen his religious hierarchy ended by the Romans, and ultimately lost eternal life. Instead Paul sacrificed temporary hardships for eternal gain and became the most prolific writer of the New Testament.
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14
In summary, we see that God who knows how we are made and what we need, and He tells us that contentment is not in our circumstances but comes from pressing toward the highest prize of spreading His glory.