Let your way of life be free from the love of money being content with what you have, for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?”
-Hebrews 13:5-6y
True and real contentment is liberating. There is freedom from the love of things in contentment. Not only the love of things but hunger for recognition, accolades, honor, and prestige. Godliness with contentment is great gain. One can find contentment only when you discover its secret. Contentment is a superb Christian virtue that grows over time. It does not come quickly, easily or naturally. Paul says “I have learned to be content” (Philippians 4:12). The great Christian saints are those who went through the crucible of testing and winnowing process that all that remains in them are not things or reputation or status but the liberating spirit of real contentment.
The Great Apostle Paul said he learned the secret of being content. How? This is the secret, he said,
“10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[d] who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:10-12, NLT)
He is saying: “There were times when I had plenty. But then God brought me to situations where I was ‘in need.’ And through that I learned something: I discovered the secret of being content.”
God used the experience of loss to produce the good fruit of contentment in Paul’s life. Have you discovered the secret of being content?
Jeremiah Burroughs described contentment as “a rare jewel.” How can you find joy in what God gives you, especially when it is less than you had before? Burroughs has great wisdom on how to obtain this jewel:
“A Christian comes to contentment, not so much by way of addition as by way of subtraction… Contentment does not come by adding to what you have, but by subtracting from what you desire. The world says that you will find contentment when your possessions rise to meet the level of your desires… The Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions.”
