Text: Philippians 4:10-13
Paul
said, “I have learned to be content in all state”. What is, therefore, content?
Content is an inward feeling of satisfaction, comfort, peace and happiness . Content is fullness in the mind. It is
also when the earning power equals the yearning power.
If
all the aforementioned represent the meaning of the word content, it then
means, it pays to be content in all things. Just as good is the opposite of bad,
discontent is a direct opposite of content. And what benefit do we have when we
are discontent? Of course the benefit will be sorrow and all sorts of
trouble.
Discontent,
according to Thomas Watson, keeps a man from enjoying that which he possessed
or what he got. Discontent is a higher form of greed, if a man let two drops of
vinegar into a glass of beautiful wine, definitely, it would soar. Charles
Spurgeon said, it is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that brings
happiness. A little spring of the herb called content, put into the poor woman
soup will make it taste as rich as a Queen’ soup.
Brethren,
it is an act of foolishness, if we cannot enjoy the comfort of what we have
because we have not gotten what we want. Let us learn to look more upon the
bright side of our condition rather than the dark side. Let’s consider what we have enjoyed rather
than what we are yet to enjoy, for that will expose us to such secret comfort
and happiness that we cannot express.
Some
of us are discontent because we have not realized that God has already provided
everything we need for our present happiness. Now that we know, we should acquire
it. Paul in vs 11 said I have learned. It then means that contentment, quite
unlike discontent which has been there already, can be learned. Contentment is
not a natural propensity of man: it must be cultivated b/4 it can grow: it can
be attained if we want to.
Contentment
is a secret to those who have not taken actions to attain it. But the good news
is that it is not too late if you can do something now. There are many secrets
found in the scripture to attain contentment, but because of our time, let’s
restrict ourselves to one for now.
One
of the secrets is to love people, not money and possession-In 1 Tim 6:10, the
bible said that the love of money is the root of all evil. What is then the
trouble? Advertisers pressure us to be discontented with what we have, as they
want us to slave to gain money, so that we can spend it on a newer, better or
bigger items. Money is seductive, and we can easily fall to it. However, the
bible warns us that a mere lover of riches will never be content. Ecl. 5:10.
.
What can we do? We must imitate our father Jesus Christ, by loving people more
than possessions Jn 15:13. We must learn to give than to receive. [Acts 20:35] For if we make it a practice to
give to others our time and resources, people respond in kind. [Lk 6:38] We should
stop grabbing and grabbing for those who pursue money and possessions cause
themselves pains and suffering [1 Tim 6:9-10]. In other words true contentment
comes from loving and being loved.
In
conclusion, brethren, let’s begin to simply evaluate our lifestyle, by
decreasing the number of possessions we have or are seeking to acquire. If we
do this, we may discover that we would have extra time and energy for more
important things of life; helping people and serving God. [Mat 6:24] [Acts
17:28] Finally, Heb 13:5 said.