The Importance of Contentment

For many there is a battle that is being waged between being complacent as opposed to being content. A complacent lifestyle will cause one to be lackadaisical about the present, dilatory regarding his future and can result in a denial of his God given destiny. Complacency will cause one to deny or neglect God-given talents and gifts in opting for a stress free life. Many are lax in the basic issues of life and choose to be dormant rather than to stretch their God given muscles, becoming what He has for them to be.

For others the battle is the difference between being contented versus having ambition. Godless ambition, in its simplest terms, is a driven life that is consumed by self-seeking. When one is ambitious he tends to live in world in which he strives to satisfy his worldly desires to have, to be and to do. Such is his drive to attain that he rationalizes the hurt caused to others--even his family--by the benefits his pursuit purports to be for others rather than seeing destructive nature of it. On one occasion, Jesus questioned, "For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away" (Luke 9:25).

A strong characteristic of ambitiousness is that it causes one to have little regard to the needs and rights of others, focusing entirely on himself. He will be driven to seek stature with men plus self-satisfaction and grandeur through personal accomplishment and attainment. All of this so futile because roles and levels of living are determined by God. The Psalmist knew the secret when he said, "Lift not up your horn on high; speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Psalm 75:5-7).

Paul knew that the basic essence of contentment was for a person to quit questioning God and to be happy in the state he is in. A few years ago when I was going through some struggles with areas of satisfaction in my life, my eldest daughter, then a college student, read to me the following scripture and appealed to me to be content. Paul said, "Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to abound and to suffer need" (Philippians 4:11, 12). I was very chastened and appreciated her admonition very much and have referred back to it many times since then in my life.

We are not instructed to be ambitious but we are taught to be zealous for the things of the Lord. In Titus we are taught that a characteristic of people looking for the coming of the Lord is that they are "zealous of good works." Lest we misunderstand, the good works we do include such things as being good business men, employees, wives and husbands, good parents, good neighbors, good citizens, etc. To be zealous is to aggressively pursue Godly virtues and works regardless of what the arena of life is they may be lived out in.

The scripture gives three very important pointers for contended living.

• Learning to praise God regardless of the drift or strife of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Praising God is declaring to God what God is like. It is declaring His Name. When we declare His names, He lives in the power of those Names. It is at that point that we will get on top of what was on top of us.


• Thanksgiving. I am convinced that few people practice the Godly virtue of thanksgiving. Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 commanded us, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." We are to give thanks to God IN EVERYTHING. That means that while we are in the midst of the furnace, we are to thank Him. Someone said to me one time, "We may be required to give thanks to God while we are in bad circumstances but no one said we were to thank Him for them. We are also commanded by Paul, "Giving thanks ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20. It is very difficult to whine and complain and to genuinely thank God at the same time. When one focuses his heart on God through praise the next expression of his lips will be thanksgiving to God who "works all things together for our good" (Romans 8:28).


• Rejoicing. Rejoicing is the vocal expression in the presence of many witnesses of a thankful heart for the great God Who is infinitely worthy of all praise. Paul commands us to "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

Praise centers on God. Thanksgiving focuses on God in our circumstances, while rejoicing extols the blessings of a praise-worthy God to others.

When one lives a life of praise, thanksgiving, and rejoicing, he will little time for complaint but will be filled with much contentment.

Jeff