Contentment is not a new word to most of us. Anyone who has been saved for any length of time has either read or heard a sermon on contentment.

What is contentment?

Vince’s Expository Dictionary defines contentment as: “to be sufficient, to be possessed of sufficient strength, to be strong, to be enough for a thing;” hence, “to defend, ward off;” in the Middle Voice, “to be satisfied, contented with.” 

One definition I read somewhere ( I can’t remember where) which I like says contentment makes what we have enough.  I like that.

We live in a world that is filled with discontent. I don’t recall any time in history where discontentment has been so rampant.  At every turn, we are being told to desire better clothes, better homes, better jobs, better families, better bodies, etc. Why?  Because we “deserve it” they say. It seems the more people have, the more they seem to want. Discontentment is not limited to material things such as clothes, shoes, housing, etc.  It includes circumstances, situation and even now, your gender! The whole transgender movement is rooted in discontent.

One definition I read somewhere ( I can’t remember where) which I like says contentment makes what we have enough.  I like that.

Now discontent is not always a bad thing, if we are discontent with the right thing. For example, It is good thing to be discontent with sin.  A believer that is struggling with a sin in their life ought not to be content with sinning just a little but be desirous of holiness.  This is not the discontent I am talking about here.  The discontent I am talking about is the prideful attitude that is rooted in ingratitude.  A person who is discontent is one who believes she deserve better than whatever she currently has or better circumstance than she is currently in.

The root of discontentment is pride and ingratitude.  According to the puritan, Thomas Watson “A discontented man is a proud man, he thinks himself better than others, therefore finds fault with the wisdom of God……….Discontent is nothing else but the boiling over of pride!’  To find fault with the wisdom of God, is to say indirectly that you know better than God, what is best for you. That is a sin.

 Discontent is a sin. It is connected to the sins of pride, ingratitude, arrogance, envy, covetousness, and unbelief.  Pastor John MacArthur put it this way:  “Discontent is always a sin. Let me put it simply. Discontent is a sin, because it denies the right of God to do with us as He will, and it ignores the promise that God will never allow us to suffer more than we are able. “There will no temptation come to us that is more than we can endure,” 1 Corinthians 10:13. It is a sin, not only because it denies the right of God to do with us as He will. It ignores the promise that He will never give us more than we can bear. But it is a sin also because it fails to believe that this is God’s best for us.”

Biblical contentment is not rooted in what we have or the circumstances we are in, like faith, Biblical contentment is rooted in the person and character of God.  In Ps. 23:1, the psalmist tells us that he lacks nothing because God is His shepherd.  In other words, he always has enough. He is always satisfied in God. Contentment is a heart issue.

Being content is critical to our walk with God. It testifies to the world that we trust God and have faith in His word and His person.  Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him

According to the puritan, Thomas Watson “A discontented man is a proud man, he thinks himself better than others, therefore finds fault with the wisdom of God………Discontent is nothing else but the boiling over of pride!’

Contentment is such a vital part of our walk with the Lord that the puritan, Thomas Watson puts it this way “The doctrine of contentment is very superlative, and until we have learned this—we have not learned to be Christians”.  Superlative here means, surpassing or superior to others, it means the highest order. Until we learn to be content in God, we will not be able to learn anything else. I agree. The Bible teaches us that contentment added to godliness is not just gain, but GREAT gain! 1Timothy 6:6

Contentment does not come natural to anyone, not even the apostle. Like all scriptural commands, contentment must be learned through the grace and knowledge of he Holy Spirit. The great apostle Paul himself had to learn to be content.  Philippians 4:11-13.  To be a learner carries with it the idea of being a student. Contentment is earned in the school of the Holy Spirit.

The believer learns contentment through prayer, the study of the word and I believe through suffering. Since contentment is rooted in the person and character of God, to learn contentment is to learn, to be a student of the person and character of God. We learn about who God is through His word, prayer, fellowship with other believers and also through suffering. Suffering give us an opportunity to exercise our faith and trust in the word of God.  It also reveals our hearts to us, letting us find to if Christ is truly sufficient.

Perhaps you find yourself today in a situation that is unpleasant, maybe you have been in this situation for a while and you have become very discontent with it and would just like for it to go away, what should you do? You should take it to the Lord in prayer. Being content does not mean one cannot desire to change an unpleasant situation, after all the apostle Paul himself prayed for the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh (2Cor.12:8).

Take your requests to the lord in prayer, but rest in His outcome. Grumbling, complaining, becoming belligerent and angry and trying to manipulate people and the situations to achieve your goal is a way of indirectly saying if you were in charge you would do things differently. In other words, you know better than God.

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