“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me but you had no opportunity.
Not that I am speaking of being in need for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Paul had to learn to be content. It did not come natural for him any more than it does for us.
Paul’s contentment was in Christ. It was not conditional upon any circumstance. This was not self-help that Paul was practicing. He had come to know and love Jesus. Jesus was all He needed. That is why he says in verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Christ has strengthened Paul to be content.
I love how Paul explains this strength from Christ to be content in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV): So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
The word “content” was used often by the Stoics of Paul’s day. Seneca often spoke about how man must be self sufficient and content. The Stoics belied contentment to be the highest of all virtues. They believed Mankind must not look to anyone or anything to make him happy. Paul turned this around to say he was dependent on Christ for his contentment. It is not self sufficiency but Christ sufficiency that made Paul content. And that should be true of us.
Many false religions teach contentment, but the contentment they teach is not in Jesus. It is not in the Gospel. It is not based on knowing and loving Jesus. It is more of a mental exercise that one does on their own. But that is not what Paul is talking about here. He is talking about being content in Christ.
The world we live in tells us we need many things to make us happy.
We need more money. We need better health. We need a bigger and nicer and newer house. We need a newer car. We need a different spouse. We need a different church. And these are all lies! These things don’t make us happy. Initially, they might bring a temporary happiness but once the new wears off, we wish we had something else.
It’s like this poem I found:
It was spring, but it was summer I wanted, the warm days, and the great outdoors.
It was summer, but it was fall I wanted, the colorful leaves, and the cool dry air.
It was fall, but it was winter I wanted (what?) the beautiful snow, and the joy of the holidays.
It was winter, but it was spring I wanted, the warmth and the blossoming of nature.
I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted, the freedom and the respect.
I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted, to be mature and sophisticated.
I was middle aged, but it was 20 I wanted, the youth and the free spirit.
I was retired, but it was middle I wanted, the presence of mind without limitations.
My life was over. But I never got what I wanted.
That describes a lot of us.
With God’s help, we can learn to be content in our standing in Christ.
Paul is once again rejoicing in verse 10. As before, Paul’s joy is in the Lord not his circumstances. His joy was not based on getting this offering. He had joy before the offering. His joy was in Christ. Yet he is showing appreciation to the church for their gift.
They had sent Epaphroditus to Rome where Paul was in prison with this offering, and Paul had sent this letter of Philippians back to them with Epaphroditus.
Paul said that their gift was like a flower blooming in the spring after a long winter. That is what he meant when he said “you have revived your concern for me.” The Greek word translated “revived” is a horticultural term describing a plant flowering again. Paul’s imprisonment had been like a gloomy winter, but hearing from the Philippian believers, seeing Epaphroditus, and receiving this love offering had been like the arrival of springtime with all the blooming flowers.
They had given out of their deep poverty. But even if they didn’t give this gift, Paul wanted them to know he had learned to be content.
Paul was content with the place he was in
He said “in whatever situation he was in” in verse 11 and verse 12 says “In any and every circumstance”
What was Paul’s situation? What was his circumstance? It was prison. He was not being content in a 5 star hotel or a cruise ship. He was content in prison, chained to a Roman guard.
So many people think if they could just relocate, they would be content. If they could switch churches, they would be content. If you find a perfect church, don’t join it. You will mess it up.
Some people think if they could move to a different subdivision, they would be content. If they could work for a different company, they would be content. If they could move to Florida and get out of this Indiana winter weather, they could be content.
When our contentment is in Christ, we don’t have to be in a different place to be happy.
An airline pilot was flying over the Tennessee mountains and pointed out a lake to his copilot. “See that little lake?” he said. “When I was a kid I used to sit in a rowboat down there, fishing. Every time a plane would fly overhead, I’d look up and wish I was flying it. Now I look down and wish I was in a rowboat, fishing.”
Paul had once been stoned and dragged out of a city (Acts 14:19). He was content in that circumstance. He had been beaten and thrown into jail (16:22–24). He had been “in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings” (2 Cor. 6:4–5). He had experienced trouble on every side, accompanied by outward conflicts and inward fears (7:5). He had learned to be content in those circumstances.
He had known close encounters with death. Five times he had received thirty-nine stripes from the Jews. Three times he was beaten with rods. Once he was stoned and three times he experienced shipwreck. He once spent a night and a day in the shark infested ocean. But he had learned to be content there.
He had faced death from robbers, from his own countrymen, from the Gentiles, and from false brethren. He had often experienced weariness, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fastings, cold, and nakedness (11:23-27).
In the midst of all these things Paul had learned how to be content.
Do you think God could be using your trials to teach you to find your contentment in Him?
Do you feel stuck? Paul could identify. But in feeling stuck, Paul learned to be content.
You do not need a different place to be content. You just need Jesus. Find your joy in Him. A different place will not satisfy you. Only Jesus will!
Paul was content with the possessions he had
Paul knew how to live in good times as well as in bad. In Philippians 4:12 he used the word “abound” as he described his contentment in times of plenty. Abound means “more than enough.” It is probable that Paul grew up in a moderately affluent home, and even after his conversion he had experienced God’s abundant provision for his needs.
When they were starting the church at Philippi, Paul and his associates were entertained at the home of Lydia, who was a prominent wealthy woman (Acts 16:15, 40).
But for Paul it really didn’t matter whether he was feasting or fasting. He had learned how to be content.
When writing to his young disciple, Timothy, Paul instructed Timothy, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Tim. 6:6–10)
There was once a man named Danny Simpson who at the age of 24 robbed a bank at gunpoint in Canada. He robbed the bank of $6,000. Shortly after, he was captured. When they found the weapon he had used to rob the bank, it was a 1918 45 Calibur semi-automatic Colt and it was worth $100,000. Danny’s problem is he didn’t know what he had in that gun. If he had known how valuable that gun was, he would have never robbed that bank.
Many Christians are like Danny. They have Christ, but they don’t recognize how valuable Christ is. They think getting more and more money and things will make them content, but they already have what they need in Jesus.
Having food and clothing let us be content. We do not need more money or things to be content.
We all have a hard time differentiating between “needs” and “wants”. Virtually everything has become a “need.” Studies show the more money people have, the less content they are.
Jesus had promised, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). All these things refers to what you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you shall wear (6:25). Jesus was teaching that if we will put our focus on serving Him and growing in righteousness, God will take care of our basic material needs.
Money can buy you a bed, but not sleep. It can buy you books, but not wisdom; it can buy a house, but not a home; it can buy food, but not an appetite; it can buy amusements, but not friends. It can buy you about anything but salvation.
Paul was content with the provisions in His life.
Paul was content with the providence of God in his life.
Throughout this text, you see Paul trusting in the sovereignty and providence of God. Paul knew God was in control of his circumstances.
At the heart of Christian contentment is a strong belief that God is in control.
Romans 8:28 says “All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.” God is working everything to accomplish His purpose.
Those who seek to control their own lives will constantly be frustrated.
We must yield to the control of God and let Him be in control. His plan is far greater than ours. God providentially arranged for Joseph to rise to a high position in Egypt to preserve His people. In Genesis 50:20, Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good that many people may be kept alive.”
Proverbs 16:9 says “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Paul understood that and it taught him to be content.
Paul was not content with His personal growth.
In 3:12-14, Paul had said, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
While we are to be content with Christ and with our possessions and our place, we are not to be content with our spiritual progress. We are to have a holy discontent in this area. We are to always be striving to be more like Christ.
I hope you are not content with what you know about God. We all need to be striving to study the Word of God more to know God more. In 3:10, Paul says “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
I hope you are not content with what you have done for Christ. I hope you are not resting on your laurels. Paul had done very much for Christ, but he was not satisfied.
I hope you are not content with your personal holiness. If you think you are sinless, you are being deceived. I have found that in my pursuit of holiness, the more holy I become, the more sinful I feel. My eyes are opened to sins that I never considered before. My sensitivity to sin has increased and I feel I am further from the goal of Christlikeness than ever.
