Intro
We are in a study of Philippians. The key verse in this epistle is Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind [mindset; way of thinking] be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”i Throughout this letter Paul is teaching us the way we should think about our lives. It is the pathway to abundant life.
Unfortunately, some Christians equate abundant life with financial abundance.ii God sometimes lavishes material abundance on a Christian for His own purposes. But the abundant life Jesus wants for His followers is not dependent upon financial gain. In fact, Jesus told us that a person’s life cannot be measure by his affluence (Luke 12:15). He followed that statement with the story of a man who spent his life accumulating material things—so much so that he kept building bigger barns to store it in. With all those resources the man was looking forward to a life of ease and pleasure. Jesus ended the story with God speaking to the man and saying, “'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” Jesus then added, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” The problem was not in his wealth. The problem was that he had laid it up “for himself,” and the man was “not rich toward God.” There’s nothing wrong with being wealthy. God gives some people wealth so they can steward it for Him. But wealth and abundant life are two different things.
Abundant life is something that goes on in the heart of the Christian who has embraced Christ’s way of thinking. The abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10 is not dependent on external circumstances. It flows out of relationship with God. It is characterized by “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
Our text today deals with a specific aspect of abundant life: the capacity to enjoy inner contentment regardless of our external circumstances.
Philippians 4:10-13:
“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
I. STATE OF CONTENTMENT:
The particle de, translated “But” marks a transition in this letter. Paul has finished the exhortations shared in 4:1-9. He now turns his attention to the gift these Philippians sent him by the hand of Epaphroditus. He alluded to it at the beginning of the letter and in chapter two verse 25. But he explicitly expresses his appreciation here.
In fact, he thanks them for the gift three times: (1) in verse 10: “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again.” (2) in verse 14: “Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress.” (3) in verse 18: “Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.”
Why say it three times? Each expression of gratitude, especially the first two, needed explanation to avoid any misunderstanding. Out of concern that his readers might draw a wrong conclusion from his statement, Paul would clarify what he meant. But then he wanted to make sure they knew he was indeed grateful for the gift. So, he would thank them again. For example, in his explanation in verse 11 he says, “Not that I speak in regard to need.” Did that qualifier mean that Paul didn’t appreciate what they had done? To make sure they didn’t think that, Paul affirms his gratitude in verse 14, “Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress.”
Let’s look a little closer at Paul’s statement of gratitude in verse 10: “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.” In the early years of the church the Philippians had generously supported Paul financially (4:15-16). Paul mentioned it in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 and said they were giving beyond their ability to give. But apparently there was an interval in which they were not giving to Paul. Is Paul reprimanding them for not giving during that time? Not at all. They had no opportunity to do so during that interval. It could have been an issue of logistics. Maybe they didn’t even know where Paul was. We don’t know why they couldn’t give during that interval. Our English translation could lead us to assume a subtle correction in in verse 10. It is not there in the Greek. iii There is nothing negative in verse 10. Paul knows and they know that the lack of financial support during that time was not due to a lack of concern but a lack of opportunity. His expression of gratitude is wholehearted.
But there was a danger that they might misunderstand Paul’s attitude toward his state of need. He just told them in verse 9 to emulate his example. It’s important the readers not draw any wrong conclusions about his attitude toward need. Paul does not want them to think his gratitude comes out of some desperate sense of need. His appreciation is primarily about their right attitude toward him.iv He is appreciative of the gift, but he was never in doubt that God would take care of his need! Had it not happened through them; God would have taken care of him in some other way. Paul was not in any way disturbed by the need.
So, he qualifies the statement made in verse 10 with verse 11: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”v The revelational treasure in our text comes as Paul explains his attitude toward the need. He completed his direct exhortations in the first nine verses of this chapter. But here is another exhortation that emerges out of Paul’s personal testimony: the exhortation to cultivate and maintain an inner contentment regardless of external circumstances. That’s the example Paul wants these Christians to emulate. That is our focus today.
II. SCOPE OF CONTENTMENT:
Paul includes any and all circumstances when he says, “in whatever state I am.” The New International Version says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Paul emphasizes this point in verse 12 with the phrase “Everywhere and in all things.” The NIV
translates it, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
The Greek word translated “learned the secret” was used by the mystery religions in that culture. It originally meant to initiate into the mysteries.vi Part of the initiation into one of these cults was a revealing of secrets only the insiders knew. That concept has been carried over today in college fraternities, masons, and other organizations. For example, some use a secret handshake to identify themselves to one another. Paul is not using the word that way, but it still carried some of that connotation. “I have learned the secret of being content.” That’s something a committed disciple of Christ learns. The world does not know that secret. The Stoic philosophers had a counterfeit of it.vii False religions like Buddhism have their counterfeit of it.viii But the secret of contentment that a Christian learns has qualities those counterfeits do not have. Our contentment flows out of confidence in and relationship with Christ.
In verse 12 Paul addresses the two extremes we might find ourselves in: “I know how [Do you know how?] to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Paul knew how to remain content in either kind of experience.ix
He knew how to be abased. He wrote this letter while in a Roman prison. He was in a place of need. In that culture prisoners were not provided their basic needs by the state the way it’s done in America. Their food and clothing were provided by their friends and family. If that didn’t happen, they simply went without.x But Paul was not disturbed in the least by that possibility. God would either send the provisions or give him grace to go without the provisions. He lived in an undisturbed state of contentment. He does not want these Philippians to think he was anxious about his need because he does not want them to live in that kind of anxiety. So, in verse 12 he clarifies himself further. External circumstances do not disturb his internal peace whatever happens. Paul learned how “to be abased,” “to be hungry,” “to suffer need.”
That’s a lesson most people don’t want to learn. But it is essential for the committed follower of Christ. Imagine a soldier who could not endure any hardship. He would not be of much value as a soldier. That’s why Paul told Timothy to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3).xi
Do you know how to navigate humble, difficult circumstances? Have you learned how to rest in God no matter what happens to your source of income, no matter what people say about you, no matter what physical or emotional supports are pulled out from under you? What if an honor you justly deserve is given to someone else? The degree to which that disturbs you is a measure of how much you have died to self. The contentment Paul is talking about here is only available to true disciples: those who deny self, take up their cross daily, and follow the Lord accordingly (Luke 9:23). The contentment Paul is talking about flows out of a crucified life in Christ.xii
The Israelites who came out of Egypt were saved from their slavery. But they did not know how to be content in the face of need. When they ran out of water they complained (Exodus 17). When God supernaturally fed them with manna, they complained. They told Moses they were sick and tired of eating manna; they wanted meat to eat. God’s judgment was to give them what they demanded. God sent them so much quail they made themselves sick with it. It was even running out their noses because of God’s judgment (Num. 11). Be careful what you ask. It’s good and right to make your requests known unto God “with thanksgiving” (4:6). But to rebel against the path God has you on, to resent and reject His provision, to insist He meet your demands is like a spoiled child kicking and screaming for the toy he sees at the store. It is a demonstration of immaturity and a lack of confidence in God’s wisdom and love.
Paul said he “learned” this attitude of contentment. It did not come naturally for him. It does not come naturally for anyone. Our flesh is a “wanting machine.” We want recognition. We want comfort. We want pleasure. We want more! Ecclesiastes 1:8 says, “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.” Proverbs 27:20 says it this way: “Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.” The person who tries to find contentment and satisfaction by yielding to the demands of his flesh will never find it. Contentment is not attainable for anyone walking in the flesh. The Christian must learn to rise above that. He must learn to deny the demands of the flesh and follow after the will of God. “And those who are Christ's,” Paul wrote in Galatians 5:24, “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desire.” That’s not a popular message in America, but it is the only pathway that leads to this contentment Paul is talking about in our text.
Do you know how to be abased? Do you know how to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and wait for him to exalt you in due time (1 Pet. 5:6)? It’s not an easy lesson to learn. Sometimes, when we think we have learned it, we experience something that walks us through the training one more time. But, as hard as it is on the flesh, it is worth knowing. It is a key to abundant life as the New Testament defines it.
Paul also says he knows how “to abound,” and “to be full.” This may be more challenging than to be abased. When we are in need we tend to look to God for help. When we are full, we tend to forget about God. Israel followed that pattern in their history. They were warned about it in Deuteronomy 8. Moses talked to Israel about the good land God was bringing them into, a land full of resources with plenty to eat.
Then in verse 11 he warns,
“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest — when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end — 17 then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth'” (Deut. 8:11-17).
The temptation for successful people is to begin saying in their heart, “'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.” If other people would work as hard as I do, they could
have it too. But I’m more diligent. I’m more fugal. I’m a better investor. Perhaps I am just a little smarter than them. Pride is the pitfall for those who are abounding.
Nebuchadnezzar was abounding in Daniel 4. He proudly looked out from his palace at the vast empire he ruled. Daniel 4:30 records, “The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’” God’s judgment immediately fell on him, and he took on the mind and manner of an animal. He did not know how to abound.
The thing our flesh wants is “just a little more.” If I have a bicycle, I want a motor scooter. If I have a motor scooter, I want a Chevy. If I have a Chevy, I want a Mercedes. The carnal mind is always wanting “just a little more.” One person confronted that when he or she said, “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”xiii Americans simply rent storage units and put as much as they can there. Storage space rental has increased to $ 39 billion industry.xiv We live in such affluence our problem is what to do will all the stuff we have.xv But one Japanese proverb puts this all in perspective. “Even if you sleep in a thousand-mat room, you can only sleep on one mat.”xvi
We have examples in the Bible of people who knew how to abound and stay right with God. Abraham did it. Joseph did it. David did it. But there were also those who couldn’t handle the prosperity. Saul got lifted up in pride. Solomon did not handle it well. Uzziah is another example of a person who did not know how to abound. He was not content with being king; he also coveted the priestly office.xvii
Paul learned how to maintain godliness with contentment whether he was being abased or abounding in his circumstances. We have a lot of information about the times he was abased. When he founded this church, he was beaten and thrown into prison. Yet he and Silas sang praises to God in those difficult circumstances. We see his calm demeaner as he goes through a shipwreck in Acts 27. He is at peace when everyone else is freaking out. Paul learned by experience how to be abased. But there were also times when he was flourishing. There were times when people honored him. There were even times when people thought he was a god (Acts 28:6). Paul knew how to keep things in perspective during those times as well. “For I have learned,” said Paul, “in whatever state I am, to be content.”
III. STRATEGY FOR CONTENTMENT:
How do we develop this capacity of godly contentment? How do we learn how to be abased and how to abound? We must begin with a teachable spirit. We must want to know these things. A student who does not want to know his subject will almost certainly fail to learn it. This knowledge can only come by experience. And it only comes as we walk through life’s experiences looking to God for wisdom. Do you want it? How bad do you want it? It is of supreme value.
Many, many Christians never learn it. Those who do learn it must exercise it in whatever circumstance may come. If you gain an appreciation for its value, you have taken an important step in the right direction. When it comes to this subject, most of us would have to say, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on.” I think I have learned some things about this. I know it is extremely valuable. “Godliness with contentment is great gain”xviii God has worked some contentment in me. But I still have much to learn. So, I want to stay teachable. Whatever circumstance I find myself in I want to look to God for this contentment in my heart. It is something that must be chosen. It is something that must be cultivated in our daily lives.
All that we have learned in this epistle supports the ability to be content in any situation. It is all about having the right mindset. The way we think about God and about life affects our level of contentment.
I want to conclude by identifying a few keys to this ability to remain content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. This is not exhaustive, but it will help us get a general idea of how we cultivate this quality in our own lives.
(1) Commit yourself to Christ. Surrender yourself to Him. Put your faith in Him as your Lord and Savior. That begins with the new birth. The new nature that we receive when we’re born again is essential.xix The contentment Paul is experiencing does not come through sheer willpower. It is the fruit of our commitment and trust in Christ.
Paul’s contentment flowed out of his relationship with Christ. Remember the emphasis he placed on that in Philippians 3? He said in 3:8, “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Everything—possessions, comfort, status, friendships, reputation—everything was worthless to him compared to the privilege of knowing Christ. Paul cherished his intimacy with the Lord. He valued the love relationship he had with the Lord. He found his contentment in that relationship. Contentment is not found in things.xx It is first and foremost found in an all-out relationship with God.xxi
This basis of contentment is emphasized in Hebrews 13:5: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Covetousness grows out of an attempt to find fulfillment in things. It is a form of idolatry (Col. 3:5). The rationale against covetousness in Hebrews 13:5 is the faithfulness of the Lord to be with us. If we have Him, we have everything we need. His love comforts us in every situation. His wisdom shows us what to do in any situation. He power supplies whatever we may need. The cure for covetousness is reliance on our relationship with the Lord.
If we are discontent, if we are troubled, we should ask ourselves some questions. What has my attention? What am I seeking? What are my priorities? Am I focused on my relationship with the Lord?
(2) Commit your way to the Lord.
As long as you’re trying to define your own path, you will struggle to live in a state of contentment. Pride will drive you to exalt yourself. Vain ambition with motivate you to attain more and acquire more. But when you commitment your future to the Lord, when you trust Him to direct your steps, when you trust Him to close doors that need to be closed and open doors that need to be opened, you begin to rest in His wisdom.
Psalm 37 is a rich commentary on this subject of contentment. Verses 5-7 instructs: “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. 6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. 7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. . . .”
Are you willing to trust God to take you down the path that is best for you? Have you settled it in your heart that if He leads you into a set of circumstances, it is the best place for you to be? Perhaps there are lessons to learn that you didn’t even know you needed to learn. Perhaps there are people to be reached for Christ that would not be reached if you weren’t there. If it is not best for you to be there. He will lead you out in the direction you need to go. We’re talking about plotting our own path in life or trusting God to lead us in the way we should go.xxii
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. (Ps. 23:1-2). Is Jesus a good Shepherd? Can His leadership be trusted? This confidence in His leadership can settle a lot of anxiety in our lives.
David committed his way to the Lord. He trusted God to lead him in the way he should go. Think about the learning process God took David through. It was full of hills and valleys. One day he is on a lonely hillside tending sheep. The next day he is being anointed king of Israel by Samuel. One day he is carrying provisions to his brothers who were in Saul’s army. The next day he is being exalted as the one who slew Goliath. One day he is running from Saul as a fugitive. The next day he is ruling as a king. In all those ups and downs, David was learning to be content. In the end he knew how to be abased and he knew how to abound. The journey God designed for him taught him those things. The journey God has for you will teach you those things as well.
Don’t compare your journey with that of others. Second Corinthians 10:12 tells us that is not a wise thing to do. When you compare yourself to others one of two errors will occur. You will either be lifted up in pride thinking you’re better than somebody else. Or you will envy their place and be discontent about where you are. Run your own race and let others run the race God gives them. The kind of house that person has is irrelevant to the contentment you should have with the one God has given you. He may give you a better one. But He won’t do that to reward your envy. First pass the test of contentment where you are. Then let your request be made to Him, trusting His wisdom for the answer.
(3) Trust in God’s goodwill toward you.
Does God love you? Many people will affirm that in theory. But in the nitty gritty of life they’re not so sure. If you want contentment, settle it in your heart that God always has your best interest in mind. No matter what is going on, He is working all things together for your good (Rom. 8:28). We cannot always see how that is since His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8-9). That’s why trust is so essential. “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4). Psalm 84:11 makes this promise: “No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.” The only song I ever wrote was based on that verse. If its good for you He will give it to you. All you have to do is live in obedience to Him. Trust Him to bring His goodness into your life. Psalm 84 has a lot to say about that.
(4) Trust in God’s sovereignty.
if you commit your ways to the Lord, is He big enough to bring it to pass. It’s one thing to answer yes in theory. But will you rest in His sovereignty over your life when people seem to be messing it up? Paul knew God wanted him to preach the gospel. But there were times when he was arrested and thrown into prison. It might seem that God was not able to bring His own will to pass. But God was doing it in a way that Paul might not have anticipated. Instead of an oral presentation of the gospel, he had to write letters from prison. Of course, we are studying one of those today.
When it looks like the devil has turned circumstances against you, never forget the infinite wisdom of God. God can take Satan’s best strategies and turn them on their head. He did that at the cross. Satan was doing everything he could to thwart God’s plan of salvation. He did not understand that killing Messiah on the cursed cross would mean his own defeat. He did not realize that his bruising of Messiah’s heel would mean the crushing of his own head (Gen. 3:15). God defeated him in his own craftiness.
And God may be doing something like that for you. I’m sure Satan’s intentions behind Paul’s imprisonment in Rome were evil. But Paul testified in Philippians 1:12-14 that God had worked it out for the furtherance of the gospel.xxiii No matter what it looks like, trust that God is working all things together for your good.
(5) Trust in God’s provision right where you are.
He will supply the material resources you might need. In our text God supplied Paul’s natural needs through the Philippians. If they had not done it, God would have provided some other way. In 4:19 Paul told the Philippians, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” He could not have spoken that for them if he had not learned it for himself. Paul knew God would somehow, someway meet his need.
He also knew God would supply grace for whatever he had to deal with. He affirms that in 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If He doesn’t take you out of a situation, He will empower you to deal with it.xxiv You win either way. We’ll talk about that more in the next message.
Contentment happens in the mind and heart when we are thinking right. That’s why this epistle is so important for Christians. Are you thinking right about your current situation? Are you trusting God to provide what is needed? Are you trusting His wisdom and love for you? You can live in peace and contentment no matter what happens in your life. God’s got your back!
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture quotes, unless indicated otherwise, are from the New King James Version.
ii Christians who think this way are still measuring life by the world’s standards. They are still pursuing carnal goals. Paul said to Christians at Corinth, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1). Jesus said to superficial followers in John 6:26, “you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” New Testament abundant life is not found in using God to get one’s carnal desires met. It is only discovered when the Christian forfeits his carnal pursuits to follow Christ (John 12:25).
iii “Paul’s words at last you have revived [NRSV] sound harsh, but that harshness is absent in the Greek.” Bruce Barton, Mark Fackler, Linda Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, Life Application Bible Commentary, G. Osborne and P. Comfort, eds. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1995) 120. Paul’s words in verses 14-15 clearly commend them in their giving.
iv Phil. 4:17: “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.”
v The Greek word autarkes, translated content, means properly “self-sufficient” (BDAG, 152). However, Paul qualifies this with other statements made in the epistle as a whole and in 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Unlike the Stoics who sought to attain this contentment through self-reliance [TDNT, vol. 1, 466], Paul’s contentment rested in Christ as his source (2 Cor. 3:5). Louw-Nida Lexicon defines the word: “pertaining to being happy or content with what one has . . . content with the circumstances in which one exists.”
vi Colin Brown, ed, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 3, 1967 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986) s. v. “Secret, Mystery,” by G. Finkenrath, 501. Vine’s dictionary defines the word meyeo “to initiate into mysteries.” That authority says of manthano which is translated “learned” in verse 11: “denotes (a) ‘to learn’ (akin to mathetes, ‘a disciple’), ‘to increase one's knowledge,’ or ‘be increased in knowledge,’ frequently ‘to learn by inquiry, or observation,’” (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.) As a disciple of Christ Paul learned through personal observation and experience to be content in any circumstance he found himself in.
vii The Stoic counterfeit taught reliance upon reason “thus disregarding (‘being Stoic about’) the pleasures or sufferings of the moment (and being indifferent to the misfortunes of others as well as to one’s own). Alan Richardson, ed., A Dictionary of Christian Theology (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1969) s. v. “Stoicism,” by Alan Richardson, 329. In contrast, Jesus (Mk. 1:41; 6:34) and Paul (2 Cor. 11:28) felt deep compassion toward others. Paul’s contentment was not found in suppressing human emotion. It flowed out of his assurance and trust in Christ. “Unlike such philosophers [including Stoics], who depended only on themselves, however, he [Paul] is ‘self-sufficient’ only by virtue of Christ, who works in him.) Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993) 566.
viii “In the Buddhist context, nirvana refers to realization of non-self and emptiness, marking the end of rebirth by stilling the fires that keep the process of rebirth going.” “Nirvina,” Wikipedia. Accessed 10-30-20 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana.
ix Agur understood the dangers involved in both scenarios (Prov. 30:7-9).
x Cf. Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, N. B. Stonehouse, F. Bruce, G. Fee, and J. Green, eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995) 276.
xi See also Matt. 13:20-21; 24:13; 2 Tim. 2:8-13.
xii Paradoxically, a follower of Christ must lose his life in surrender to Christ in order to find it at this higher level—a level in which the Christian lives in this inner state of contentment (Matt. 16:25). Sermons on contentment that avoid this call to a crucified life miss the entry ramp into the experience. The self-help principles may be useful, but they will never bring a believer into the contentment Paul enjoyed.
xiii Carroll E. Simcox, ed., 4400 Quotations for Christian Communicators (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991)79.
xiv Alexander Harris, “U. S. Storage Industry Statistics,” March 7, 2020. Accessed 10-30-20 at https://www.sparefoot.com/self-storage/news/1432-self-storage-industry-statistics/.
xv Americans must remember that even those with lower incomes are by the world’s standards affluent.
xvi Paul Lee Tan, ed., Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Rockville, Maryland: Assurance Publishers, 1985) 273.
xvii Cf. 1 Sam. 15:17-19; 1 Kings 11:4; 2 Chron. 26:11. “If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them” (Ps. 62:10).
xviii 1 Timothy 6:6. In this chapter Paul teaches the dangers of greed. In verse 11 we are instructed to not be motivated by selfish greed but to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” The right pursuit is important to cultivating godly contentment.
xix Cf. 2 Cor. 5:17. It is the influence of the Holy Sprit working in us as we yield to Him that produces contentment in our hearts.
xx Jesus taught the importance of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, rather than allowing eartly concerns to dominate our hearts (Matt. 6:19-34).
xxi Paul’s contentment was not apathy. He was passionate about his relationship with Christ. He was passionate about the salvation of others. He was passionate about the gospel. His goals were in alignment with God’s goals and he relied on God to bring His will to pass. Because he had set his affection on these things, earthly issues of recognition, comfort, etc. could not disturb his core sense of contentment.
xxii Committing ourselves to the will of God interfaces with this acceptance of the path God chooses for us. We are to pray it daily: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” (Matt. 6:10). The mindset Jesus had (Phil. 2:5-8: “obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross) supports biblical contentment (John 5:30; 8:29).
xxiii Cf. Gen. 50:20; Esther 9.
xxiv See 2 Cor. 12:9.
