Are You Content?
The wealthiest and wisest man who ever lived said the problem of mankind is that people are not satisfied. His name was Solomon. In the book of Ecclesiastes, he wrote about the emptiness inside us that can drive us to seek satisfaction through selfish pleasures. But he said that just will not work. The more we try to find fulfillment through pleasures, the more empty we will feel. He knew that by revelation, and he had learned it by experience. What were his final words about the the solution to the restless feeling many have inside? “Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
The apostle Paul was not a free man when he wrote to the Christians at Philippi. He had been through good times and bad times in life, and he had learned from them. He learned by experience to be content.
This episode caps off a series on living a selfless, giving life.
Read about this subject
- Scripture: Philippians 4:11-13; I Timothy 6:7-8; Hebrews 13:5
- “Christian Contentment” in Annual Lesson Commentary, 1950, Fourth Quarter, Lesson 2
Listen to more on this subject
Transcript
Kerry Duke: Hi, I’m Kerry Duke, host of My God and My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book. Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthen your faith and to share what you’ve learned with others.
Are you content with your life? Some would say yes. They have plenty of money. What have they need and buy whatever they want. They have good health or, fairly good health and they have a comfortable life. But they don’t have God in their life. Others say yes, even though they don’t have a lot of money. They are satisfied with their life as long as they’ve got a roof over their head and enough to eat. They have no ambition to make more money. So you could say that at least they’re not greedy. But they don’t have God in their life either. They don’t stop to thank him for the good things they have. When a man is satisfied without God, he’s not really content.
Many people are content with how they live their life – their priorities, their family, their job, their accomplishments, their entertainment. They may even tell you that they’re living the dream, but they’re trying to live it without God. And if they leave Gid out or put anything above Him, they’re not “living the dream.” They’re living in a dream world, a fantasy land.
Even Christians can be content in the wrong way. The church at Laodicea had money. And their attitude was this: “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3 verse 17). They were satisfied with their spiritual condition because they were satisfied with their physical condition. That’s a tremendous mistake. And Jesus flat out told them they needed to repent.
So what does it mean to be content in the true, biblical, Christian sense of the word? Let’s read Philippians chapter 4 verses 11 through 13. This is one of the most common Bible passages in Internet searches today. Paul said, “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. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” No wonder so many people are looking at these words. This is, as we say, right down where we live. We need to read these words so often that we can say them by heart.
Paul didn’t command these people to be content. There’s a reason for that that we’ll see in a few minutes. But here in verse 11, he tells them that he was content. He uses himself as an example. These Philippian Christians had sent aid to Paul. So Paul let them know that he received what they sent, and he was no doubt thankful for what they had done. Then he says to them in verse 11, “Not that I speak in regard to need.” Paul wasn’t worried about it. He’d been in situations like this before. As a matter of fact, he had been in worse situations. So Paul wasn’t anxious about what he had or didn’t have. He didn’t complain. He said he was content.
If you need to work on being content, here’s your verse. Because one of the first things we do when we feel that way is to ask how to be content. Is it just something that naturally comes over you when you get older? Or is it something you can learn at any age? Paul gives you the key. He said he had learned to be content. Now it’s true that the Bible commands us to be content. In First Timothy chapter 6 verses 7 and 8, Paul told Timothy, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Now that’s a verse people in affluent societies need to read more often. Some of you may have been to countries where people had very little to eat, maybe even one meal a day was all they had. I know I’ve been to places like that. But I’ve also seen, and you may have as well, Christians in those countries who were happy and thankful to God to be his children. It really is a frame of mind. And Paul mentioned the two things Jesus talks about in the Sermon on the Mount when He told us not to worry. He said not to be anxious about food and clothing.
Do you see how this fits together with Philippians chapter 4? Remember in verse six of this chapter that Paul said to pray and not worry. And he said in your prayers, make sure to give thanks to God. No matter how bad things are in life, you can at least thank God that you have something to eat. You can at least thank the Lord that you have clothes on your back. And that, friends is peace of mind and contentment.
The Bible says in Hebrews 13 verse five, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Did you notice the contrast between covetousness and contentment? If you’re covetous, you can’t be content, and if you’re content, you’re not covetous. So he says to be content with the things you have. And remember that God said he will never leave or forsake you.
So yes, the Bible commands us to be content. But there’s something very important we need to remember here. It’s not enough just to read these words or hear them. It’s not enough just to memorize them. You have to apply the word of God to your life. You must make a decision to do what God says. And that includes deciding to think and feel the way that God says to think and feel in your heart. That’s why Paul says “I have learned” to be content. How did he learn? You might say because God told him. But it was more than that. Paul learned by experience. You see, we must take what we see in the Bible and connect it to everyday life. You have to see your life through the lenses of God‘s word. You have to reflect on situations and remember verses in the Bible about them. Now that’s true education.
When you think about it, there are a lot of things the Bible tells us to do that involve quite a bit of experience. Learning how to be a parent is not easy. A teenager can memorize verses about being a parent someday, and that’s good. That’s really good, and it would be great if every teenager would do that. But there’s no way that a teenager can understand those verses about raising children until he has children of his own. Experience is a great teacher. It’s a hard teacher too. Experience teaches us through pain as well as through good times. And sometimes we have to make mistakes to learn better. But that’s life. That’s how we grow. And here in Philippians chapter 4 Paul says that he had learned something. He had learned to be content. That doesn’t mean that he was greedy or selfish before. It just means he learned it on a deeper level. But he had to go through the ups and downs of life to reach that point.
And remember that we’re talking about the apostle Paul – an inspired man. A man who worked all kinds of miracles. A man God spoke to directly. Yet God did not give him an instant change of mind so that he could be content. He learned how to be content, and if the apostle Paul had to learn it by experience, then so will you and so will I.
Paul said he learned to be content in the classroom of life, not a classroom in school. The famous phrase is “the school of hard knocks” or “the university of hard knocks.” This is interesting because Paul was an educated man. A very educated man. But that education couldn’t give him the contentment he talks about here. He was an inspired man, a man who spoke by revelation from the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit didn’t give him a gift of contentment. Paul had to apply the word of God to his heart and life just like the rest of us do. And he said he had learned that lesson well, so well in fact, that he said he had learned to be content in whatever condition he was in. He tells us what he means by that in verse 12: “I know how to be abased.” To be abased means to be brought low, to be humbled by the circumstances of life. Then he said, “I know how to abound.” Paul doesn’t mean he had learned how to manage his money whether he had a little or a lot of money. It means he had learned by experience to manage his feelings whether he had a little or a lot.
Here’s what he said in the rest of verse 12: “Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Paul said no matter where I am or in what condition I find myself, I’ve learned how to deal with it, how to live with it. I’ve learned how to keep a good attitude. I’ve learned to be content. If I have plenty to eat, and my stomach is full, I’m thankful to God. If I’m hungry because I don’t have enough to eat, I’ve learned to be content in the meantime until I have something to eat. I’ve learned to be thankful either way. So is Paul just saying this hypothetically or were there times when he was hungry?
He tells us in Second Corinthians chapter 11 verse 27. He said he traveled and preached “in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.“ Look at those words very closely. Paul knew what it was like to feel tired. One of the most common things we say about our lives is that we’re so busy. We just feel tired a lot. We’re tired physically, and we’re tired emotionally because of the stress that’s all around us. Paul knew what it was like to be tired. When he traveled, he had to walk a lot. The average person in New Testament times had to walk several miles a day. Jesus felt it too. The Bible says in John chapter 4 verse six the Lord was tired from the journey and sit down on the well. Even the Lord had to rest. In Mark chapter 4, verse 38, He was asleep on a pillow in a boat at sea while the disciples piloted the boat. Another reason Paul was tired often times was because he worked. Remember that Paul was a tent maker. He wasn’t always fully supported by churches to do his work of preaching the gospel. In fact, in first Thessalonians chapter 2 verse nine, he said that he and Timothy and Silas worked night and day sometimes. And they did that while they were preaching and teaching the gospel in those places.
And then Paul said he didn’t sleep well. He didn’t just say he had trouble sleeping every once in a while. He said often he couldn’t sleep. If you sleep well, you’re a blessed person. But if you have trouble sleeping, just remember that mankind has had problems with it with for thousands of years. Solomon said Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse twenty-three that it’s common for a man’s heart not to take rest in the night. Paul knew that feeling all too well.
And then he adds something that he mentioned in Philippians chapter 4. Sometimes he was hungry. Sometimes he was thirsty. Many times he went without eating. That’s what he means when he says he was in fastings often. About the only time people in our culture fast is when the doctor tells them to because they’re going to have a test or procedure. Fasting in the Bible is sometimes chosen, and other times it is not. Either way, Paul went many times without having enough to eat or drink. That may have been because he was traveling and couldn’t find food. It may be that he was like the apostles in Mark chapter 6, verse 31. The Bible says in that passage that they were so busy doing the work of the Lord that they had no time to eat.
And then Paul says he experienced cold and nakedness. The word nakedness in the Bible sometimes doesn’t mean that a person is indecent or immodest. It just means that the person doesn’t have enough clothing to shelter him from the elements. From bad weather and especially from cold. Sometimes it was very cold and Paul didn’t have thick enough clothes to keep him warm.
But here’s the lesson in all this. Paul didn’t complain. He didn’t blame God. He took it like a man. He kept going. He preached the gospel in spite of all the beatings and physical hardships he went through. And while he endured all these pains of life, he learned to be content. That doesn’t mean he jumped for Joy because he was hungry. That doesn’t mean he preferred to be cold instead of warm. But it does mean he had a resolve, a strength, a steadfastness in his faith that kept him anchored.
Your life will always have contrasts. That’s what Paul was talking about in verse 12. He talked about being full and being hungry. He talked about being in need and having plenty. You need those different situations in your life. It wouldn’t be good for you if every day was a good day. It wouldn’t be best for you if every day was a bad day. You need contrast in your situation, and those changes in your life need to be unpredictable. God has made you so that you can’t know the future, and there are reasons for that. It’s good to pray for good days. But if you knew every day was going to be a good day, you’d be lazy in your faith and you wouldn’t appreciate the good things God gives you. We need a bad day once in a while. We may need bad days more than we realize. But God is a just and loving God and He won’t put burdens on us that are too heavy to bear. Is good to have this contrast in life because it teaches us things we don’t usually learn any other way. And one of those things is contentment.
Now let’s dive deeper into what being content means in the biblical sense. And let’s do that by looking at what contentment is not. First of all, being content doesn’t mean it’s wrong to have more than you need. It doesn’t even mean it’s always wrong to work so that you can have more than you need. And I would go step further and say that it’s not necessarily wrong to work so that you have more than your family needs.Why? Because the Bible teaches us to work so that we can have something extra to give to people that are in need. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 28 Paul said, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” So a man is not simply to work so that he can feed himself. He should work so that he can feed himself, and his family if he has a family, and also so that he can help feed people that need food. In other words, he should not be content with just feeding himself. He shouldn’t say, “I work hard and take care of myself.“ He ought to make it his goal to take care of himself and help to take care of others. That’s the Christian ethic. That’s the golden rule. That’s loving your neighbor as yourself. Paul said basically the same thing in Acts chapter 20 when he talked to the elders of the church at Ephesus. Listen very carefully to what Paul said in Acts 20 verses 34 and 35. This is where he quoted some words of Jesus I know you’ll recognize: it is more blessed to give them to receive. But, have you thought about what he said before this? Here’s what he said: “ Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” I know it’s very simple, and I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but we’re living in an age when people don’t think about this. The simple fact is that you must have more than you need in order to be able to give. Being content doesn’t mean you have to live in poverty by choice.
Do you remember the story of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15? The Bible says when he had spent all of his inheritance on sinful living, he was broke and really hungry for the first time in his life. He was so hungry he wanted to eat what the hogs were eating.now that’s hungry. And it was at that point that the Bible says he came to himself. That means he came to his senses. And then he began to talk to himself. Here’s what it says in Luke chapter 15 verse 17: “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” He said even the servants at his father‘s house had bread enough and to spare. That means they had enough food and then some. When you think about it, this is just common sense. It’s wise to have more than you need so that when bad times come, you can provide for yourself and help others.
Being content also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask God for something good. In Matthew 7 verses 7 through 11, Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Being content doesn’t always mean doing without. Paul wrote that he was content when he had more than he needed as well as not enough.
There’s nothing wrong and everything is right about praying for good things because Jesus said God is our Father, and if we as earthly, sinful parents know how to give good things to our children, then how much more does God give good things to those who ask Him? But of course God doesn’t always say yes to our prayers. That’s when you’ll know if you’re content. For instance, if you’re sick, you pray for good health. Now God may grant that request or He may not. You may have to wait. You may have to endure. Paul had a health problem and he prayed three times that God would take it away, but God didn’t. That’s in Second Corinthians chapter 12 verses 7 through 10. But Paul accepted that. He realized it made him stronger. It wasn’t wrong to ask, but by saying no God made Him even better.
Here’s another example. This is very common. It’s a good thing to pray for a mate. Women pray that they’ll find the right man and men pray that they’ll find the right woman. Being content doesn’t mean a single person should settle for just anybody who will say yes regardless of their life and character.
Here’s something else to think about. Paul doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to enjoy life. He said in First Timothy chapter 6 verse 17 that God gives us richly all things to enjoy. And here’s what Peter said in First Peter chapter 3 verses 10 and 11. And, actually, he’s quoting these words from Psalm 34. He said, “For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.” There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what God gives you. It’s wrong when we’re selfish. It’s wrong when all we think about is pleasing ourselves. It’s wrong when we forget the poor and don’t remember to thank God. But just enjoying what God gives us doesn’t mean we’re not content.
We’re all tested sooner or later about this. At some point you’ll have hard times. You may have financial problems. You may have health issues. You may have family troubles. Being content doesn’t mean you look at those trials and feel nothing. That’s not contentment. Being content means you face those hardships and you bear your burdens and you keep a good Christian attitude no matter what happens. That’s contentment.
Now let’s look at verse 13 in Philippians chapter 4. This, again, is one of the most well-known verses in the Bible in our time. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You see and hear this verse everywhere today. And it’s good that people are looking to the Bible. But we need to listen to what Paul said when he wrote these famous words. What were the things Paul was talking about when he said he can do all things through Christ? He’s talking about the kind of things he mentioned in verse 12! “Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Paul said he could be content when he was hungry through Christ who strengthened him. He said he could be full yet faithful through Christ who strengthened him. He said he could be content whether he was rich or poor through Christ who strengthened him. When he said he could do “all things” through Christ, he didn’t mean Jesus will do anything we want to do. He sure doesn’t mean we can do whatever we imagine. People today quote these words like they’re some kind of blanket guarantee. And it’s tragic that so many apply this verse to situations that are nothing like what Paul described. How many times have you seen Philippians 4 verse 13 at a ball game—maybe even tattooed on the arm of an athlete or painted on his face? Is that what Paul was talking about? Winning ball games? Getting an A on a test? Having the career or the house of your dreams? It’s good to put God first in everything you do. I’m certainly not saying you should leave God out of any part of your life. But this verse of Scripture is about things that are far more serious.
Paul said he could go through the trials he faced because Christ gave him strength. He didn’t think he could do it on his own. He knew it was by the grace of God that he could make it through these hard times. That’s the lesson we need to learn from this. That’s how we need to apply it to our lives. Philippians 4 verse 13 is not about Christ giving you the strength to do what you want; it’s about Christ giving you strength to get through things you don’t want. It’s not about Jesus giving you the strength to achieve your earthly goals; it’s about Jesus giving you strength to get to heaven. It’s not about earthly success; it’s about hard things in life like dealing with sickness and death. Christ will give you strength. You don’t have to look at your situation like everything is on you. There are some very painful experiences in life that can lead you to say, “I can’t do this.” Moses said that in Numbers chapter 11 verse 15. He reached the point in his life where he said he was not able to handle the pressure and stress anymore. He even asked God to take his life because he didn’t feel he could do it. But if you trust God and remember this verse – I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me – you can get through situations you didn’t think you could endure. You can do things you didn’t think you could do. Things like dealing with children who have gone astray. Things like surviving the death of a spouse or a child. Things like going through cancer treatments or being a caretaker to someone who has dementia. If you feel like you don’t have the strength to do it, you’re right. You don’t. That’s why you need the Lord. All of us do. Paul didn’t say he could get through the trials he faced because he was wise or talented. He said I can do it because Christ gives me strength.
Up to this point we’ve talked about Paul learning to be content. But what about the church he’s writing to? The church at Philippi is another great example of being content. Notice what Paul said about them in chapter 4 verses 14 through 16: “Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress.
Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.” The Christians at Philippi had helped Paul from the start. He said they helped him “in the beginning of the gospel,” that is, when the gospel was first preached in Macedonia. Philippi was a city in Macedonia, and Paul said no other church sent support to him at that time except them. And he said it was not a one-time gift. He said they sent aid to him time and again when he was in Thessalonica. The church at Philippi was a very generous church.
Now here’s a review question. This goes back to earlier episodes in this series. Where in the New Testament did Paul hold up the churches of Macedonia as examples of giving? It’s in Second Corinthians chapter 8. In verse one Paul said he wanted the church at Corinth to take notice of the churches of Macedonia. The church at Philippi was in Macedonia. Paul said the same thing about them that he said about himself. He tells us in Philippians 4 verses 11 through 13 that he knew how to be content whether he was full or hungry, whether he had much or little. Well, the brethren in Macedonia, which, again, included Philippi, had learned to make the best out of a bad situation. They learned to be content even though they had little. They kept a good spirit even though they had a hard life. Listen again to what Paul said about them. In Second Corinthians 8 verse 2, he said although they were “in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.” They were going through hard times—very hard times. They were in the middle of a “great trial of affliction,” and yet they had an abundance of joy. They were in “deep poverty,” and yet they were very generous, giving people. He said they were very poor people but they were rich in their generosity. That means they were like the poor widow that Jesus said gave more than all the wealthy Jews because although the money she gave was small, it was more than what they gave because she gave everything she had. Paul said he could testify firsthand as to how generous these Macedonian Christians were. He wrote in verses 3 and 4, “For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.”
If you want to teach a lesson on what it means to give—and truly give—as Christians, there’s your text. He said they gave according to what they were able and then some. They were deeply poor, but they gave what they could and much more than anybody would have thought. Paul said they implored him and others with him to accept their gift. That means they urged Paul to accept what they gave. Now what else could that mean except that Paul and the others were a little reluctant to take their gift because they needed it themselves? And yet they were sending it to poor saints in Judea. They were very poor saints who were helping poor saints. But they didn’t worry about how they’d get by. They didn’t regret later giving as much as they did. They were exactly what Paul wrote about in the next chapter of this book. He said in Second Corinthians 9 verse 7 that “God loves a cheerful giver.”
These people were poor but they didn’t complain. They were happy. They gave to help Paul and others even though they didn’t have much to give. But they weren’t selfish. They weren’t bitter because they had it hard. Now that’s what it means to be content in whatever situation you find yourself in.
Now how did they have such a contented, peaceful, happy attitude even though the world was not very generous to them? Paul gives the answer in Second Corinthians 8 verse 5: “And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” That’s the key to everything we’ve talked about in this book of Philippians. When you give yourself to God, it’s nothing to give to others what God gives to you. It’s not something you have to be made to do. Giving to the Lord and to others is not like paying taxes you resent paying. It’s an honor. It’s a joy. It’s a privilege. That’s why Jesus said it’s more blessed to give than to receive. And when you learn to be truly content and unselfish, then you know you’re following the Lord and pleasing Him, because Paul said after he complimented the Philippian Christians and the other churches of Macedonia, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (Second Corinthians 8 verse 9).
Thank you for listening to My God and My Neighbor. Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 in Cookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Study at your level. Aim higher and get in touch with us today.