Paul urged the believers in Philippi to embrace a spirit of contentment. And we should point out that Paul wasn’t a do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do type of guy. He talked the talk and walked the walk when it came to being content. Paul had more opportunities to be discontent than most people ever will.
“Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Corinthians 11:23–27). Someone who learned to be content under those circumstances deserves to be heard.
Paul’s words in Philippians 4 align with Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25–27: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
It’s a matter of focus. If your eyes are on the things of this world, you won’t be content. There’s always a new toy, a nicer car, and a bigger house to aim for. It’s only after you acquire those things that you discover the stinging truth of Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 2:11: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”
If, on the other hand, your eyes are on God and His will for your life, contentment is always within reach. The apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17).
To be content is to recognize the goodness and generosity of God that put you where you are. To be content is to continuously take an inventory of the amazing things He’s done for you and given you. To be content is to remember where all good and perfect gifts come from.
