THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT
Philippians 4:12
INTRODUCTION: Fisherman story from Nelson’s ill. Pg. 146. I’m going to be talking today about contentment. In Philippians 4:12 Paul said that he had learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. We need to learn that secret as well.
1) The secret to discontentment. As I was getting into studying about what makes us discontent I realized it really boils down to one thing: selfishness. Our old nature is self. We fight with being self-directed people. We are pleasure seekers who get caught-up in instant gratification. Instead of being content with what we have we want to have the latest and greatest. We feel we need to have something new to satisfy us. Although the root of discontent is selfishness, I see two ways in which they are played out: covetousness and greed. Even though these two are closely related, there is a difference. When I covet, I specifically want what you have. When I’m greedy I just want what’s there. It doesn’t have to belong to anyone.
· Covetousness. Covetousness goes beyond seeing someone with something nice and wanting one for yourself. In that, I don’t care if you have yours I just would like one too. Although that could still set the stage for discontent, covetousness goes deeper. When I covet, emotions start becoming engaged. I become angry with you because you have something I want. I may devise a plan to get it from you. I not only get angry and resentful toward you, I also get angry and resentful toward God because from my perspective, he is depriving me of what I think I should have. Covetousness is a big factor in being discontent. When Robinson Crusoe was on a deserted island after his ship had wrecked, he found a bible among the chests he had salvaged. His heart was changed upon reading it and he uttered these words. “I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed, rather than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take notice here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that He has not given them.” When I covet, I am robbed of enjoying that which I already have. I am not satisfied with what God has given me; I want what he has given you. Quote: “Contentment is not having everything you want, but wanting everything you have.” When I covet I am discontent.
· Greed. 1st Tim. 6:6-10. If I’m a greedy person and my agenda is to get rich I’m going to fall into temptations like lust, envy and jealousy. I’m going to fall into the traps of corruption and compromise. I’m going to become trapped by my own envious desires as I forsake my morals and convictions in order to achieve my goal of financial gain. My greed, my foolish and harmful desires will plunge me into ruin and destruction. For when I love money and not God (and we cannot love both, we cannot serve two masters) I set myself up for engaging in various evil activities. The love of money is at the root of embezzlement, prostitution, counterfeiting, gambling, pornography, drug trafficking, human trafficking, the list goes on and on. And people who decide that the pursuit of money is more important than the pursuit of God pierce themselves with many griefs. Their grief comes in never being satisfied. Their grief comes in doing dishonest things for money and having to live with that. Their grief comes in getting caught and having to pay the price for being discontent. Ecc. 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” John D. Rockefeller, often regarded as the richest person in history, was asked, ‘How much money is enough? He answered, “Just a little bit more.” Charles Spurgeon said, “You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” Greed breeds discontent.
2) The secret to contentment.
· Understanding. 1st Tim. 6:6-8. Set-up (vs. 1-5). I need to understand that if my goal, even in being godly, is financial gain I will not be content. Godliness as a means of financial gain is really no gain at all. Being content in being godly, however, is great gain. Re: vs. 7: I need to understand that ‘he who dies with the most toys; still dies’. Paul said in vs. 8 that we should find contentment in having just the basic necessities-food and clothing. He didn’t talk about transportation, not even a roof over his head, just food and clothing. We condition ourselves to believe that certain things we’ve gotten used to having are necessary, things we can’t do without. We are discontent when we blur the line between needs and wants; what’s a necessity and what isn’t. We need to understand the difference between needs and wants. Having a cell-phone is not a necessity. Cable TV is not a necessity. Having a computer is not a necessity. These aren’t wrong things to have, but the question we have to ask ourselves is, could I still be content if I didn’t have these things? Quote, “The good life exists only when we stop wanting a better one. The itch for things is a virus draining the soul of contentment.” We need to understand the need for contentment. We need to see what being discontent does to us. It drains our soul of joy. Jesus prayed, “Give us today our daily bread.” We’ve quoted this probably a hundred times or more but do we really mean it? Do we understand why Jesus would’ve said this? Prov. 30:7-9. If God were to give us all our wants and desires we would be in danger of disowning him. “I have all these things, what do I need God for?” Daily bread also means that we’re asking that God not withhold any of our basic needs from us. It doesn’t mean that Agur, the author here, would definitely disown God or that he would definitely steal, but there is an acknowledgment that if found in either one of these extremes it would be dangerous. He understood the purpose of receiving his daily bread. He wasn’t going to be discouraged when God didn’t give him the riches he saw others with. Instead, since he understood the dangers he would be thankful. When we look at the riches of others and it causes us to be discontent we are misunderstanding the purpose to having our daily bread. We fail to see the benefits of having our needs met. What happens when we get more money and possessions? We tend to worry about them. We are stressed about the upkeep. We are worried about securing our stuff. Our identity is in how much we have or how much we make. In this, we fail to understand the meaning of life. We fail to understand that when we increase our things we tend to increase our stress. The secret to contentment is revealed in understanding my need for it.
· Acceptance. Phil. 4:10-13. Paul wasn’t just spouting off a nice principle. It wasn’t like anyone could say to Paul, “Yeah, easy for you to say. You haven’t dealt with the troubles I have.” Paul spoke from his life experiences. Paul was writing this from prison! Yet in this prison letter we hear Paul talk about doing everything without complaining or arguing. He talks about rejoicing in the Lord always. He talks about the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. Because Paul relied on the strength of God he was able to be content despite his circumstances. Bob Reccord, in his book, ‘Forged by Fire: How God Shapes Those He Loves’, writes, “As I write this book, I’m having to exercise the faith of dealing with the prison of pain. Unexpectedly, I suffered a severe cervical spinal injury. The pain was so excruciating, the hospital staff couldn’t even get me into the MRI until they had significantly sedated me. The orthopedic surgeon’s assistant later told me, "Bob, your neck is a wreck." He said there was hardly any way I could avoid surgery. Because of the swelling of injured nerve bundles, the only way I could relieve the pain was to use a strong, prescribed narcotic and to lie on bags of ice. Sleep, what little there was, came only by sitting in a recliner. I lost about 80% of the strength in my left arm. Three fingers on my left hand totally lost feeling. The slightest movements would send pain waves down my left side and shoulder. I had to step away completely from my work (which I love), and begin to wear a neck brace 24 hours a day for five weeks. About halfway through that experience, I was sitting on the screened-in porch behind our home. The day was cold and blustery, but I was committed to being outside, just for a change of scenery. A bird landed on the railing and began to sing. On that cold, rainy day, I couldn’t believe any creature had a reason to sing. I wanted to shoot that bird! But he continued to warble, and I had no choice but to listen. The next day I was on the porch again, but this time the atmosphere was bright, sunny, and warm. As I sat, being tempted to feel sorry for myself, the bird returned. And he was singing again! Where was that shotgun? Then an amazing truth hit me head on: the bird sang in the cold rain as well as the sunny warmth. His song was not altered by outward circumstances, but it was held constant by an internal condition. It was as though God quietly said to me, "You’ve got the same choice, Bob. You will either let external circumstances mold your attitude, or your attitude will rise above the external circumstances.” Learning to sing despite the weather. Can we do that? Bob did. Paul did. The secret to contentment is revealed in acceptance.
· Generosity. Prov. 11:24-25. Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Content makes the poor man rich. Discontent makes the rich man poor.’ There may be factors involved as to why I’m not generous like fear, worry and doubt but if I am not a generous person then it’s a sure sign I’m not a content person. If I’m someone who hoards everything I own I’m not content because even though I have 10 of something I will still feel that I could use more. Even though I don’t need the 10 I already have, I’m not satisfied with 10; I want 11. So when the opportunity comes to be able to bless others I will justify why I can’t share. If I were content then I wouldn’t have a problem letting go of some of my things in order to help someone else. Paul said he learned to be content in any situation. Therefore, we can learn to be generous in any situation. I don’t have to have an abundance of things in order to be generous. Luke 3:11, “The man who has two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” Wait a minute. If I have two and give one, what happens if the one I have gets damaged? No, I need to have a spare. Quote, “We’ll miss contentment if keeping rather than releasing becomes our objective. We too often love things and use people, when we should be using things and loving people. We are most content when we’re grateful for what we own, satisfied with what we make, and generous to those in need.” The secret to contentment is revealed in generosity.
· The Lord. Heb. 13:5-6. Remember what Paul said in Philippians 4:13? “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” He didn’t say, I can do everything through the money I have. He didn’t say, I can do everything because I have everything to do it with. Are we content in the strength of God or do we say, ‘I need this, that and the other in order to be content’? Is God enough? God will never leave me but guess what? My possessions will. How much contentment can be found in having more of anything this world has to offer? It’s unpredictable. It’s here today and gone tomorrow. We can find contentment in knowing that God will always be there for us. We don’t have to worry. We don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to stress about maintaining what we have or fixating about how to get more and more. Let us find contentment in God. He is my helper, not money. He is my provider, not my employer. He is my sustainer, no matter what gets tossed my way. Will I trust in him or money? Will my faith be in him or in others? Will I find fulfillment in my relationship with Jesus or in my pursuit and attainment of more stuff? Bill Gothard said, “Contentment is realizing that God has already provided everything we need for our present happiness.” If you’ve been born again, you’ve already received more than what you deserve. Why are we not content with eternal life? Even if the rest of our lives are spent in poverty and destitution, we still have every reason to be thankful and content. Thankfully, however, God has blessed us beyond that. 1st Tim. 6:17-19. It’s been said, “God doesn’t give us all things to enjoy life; he gives us life to enjoy all things.” The secret to contentment is revealed in the Lord. In Jesus we have the fullness of life.
CONCLUSION: Charles Spurgeon said, “A man’s contentment is in his mind, not in the extent of his possessions.” The secret to being content is not about having it’s about being. Contentment is found when my heart and mind are centered on Christ. Let’s be people whose hearts, minds and lives are marked by contentment.
