When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror and wanted to change what you saw? In the past month, about what have you said, “I want that?” When your friend received the promotion, product, or prestige that you thought you would receive, what was your reaction?
Most people find it very difficult to be content. Contentment is difficult because we are fallen people living in a fallen world. No longer do we worship God alone and work for His glory. Until Jesus returns, we will battle the desire to want Christ plus someone or something else. But be encouraged. If you are united to Christ by faith, you can truly, though not perfectly, be content. The Bible teaches us at least five ways to pursue contentment.
1. Rejoice in the Lord.
Because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), our hearts no longer worship God alone. We have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25). Therefore, if we are going to pursue contentment, we must return to worshiping God alone. Regardless of our circumstances, we must rejoice in the Lord:
Though the fig tree should not blossom . . .
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab. 3:17–18)
2. Trust in the Lord.
One of the reasons we find it hard to be content is because we don’t really trust that God loves us and is working all things for our good (Rom. 8:28). But when we “see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1) and believe that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28), then we can rest in His plans for our lives. Since He has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of [our] dwelling place” (Acts 17:26), we can stop trying to control who we are and what we have, and instead, we can be content with the truth that the Lord is King over all, including our lives:
Trust in the Lord, and do good . . .
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps. 37:3–4)
3. Keep an eternal perspective.
If we are living for the things of this world, we will never be content. Jesus exhorted His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:20–21). Paul taught Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” (1 Tim. 6:6–7). Instead of pursuing the pleasures of this world, we are to pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” and “take hold of the eternal life to which [we] were called” (1 Tim. 6:11–12).
4. Let your weaknesses magnify Christ’s power.
If we’re honest, we don’t like to be weak. Many of us have been taught to hide our weaknesses and display our strengths. But the Bible teaches that “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). This is because our weaknesses reveal the sufficiency of Christ’s grace, and it is Christ’s power that “is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Therefore, we can be “content with weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:10).
5. Don’t covet what others have.
It’s very tempting to look at family members, friends, church members, neighbors, and co-workers and want what they have. We often wonder why God has withheld from us the very things for which we prayed, especially when they seem good and right to have, such as a spouse or children. But the Bible teaches us that God determined the time period in which each person will live, as well as “the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). Best of all, in these moments and places ordained for us, God wants us to seek Him because “he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:27–28).
It can also be tempting to look around at others’ gifts and covet them, but “grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” and He is the One who “gave gifts to men . . . for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:7–8, 12). Therefore, we can be confident that we have the gifts Christ intended for us and need not covet another’s. Instead, we can encourage others to steward well the gifts they have received, so that “God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10–11).
Ultimately, our discontentment is with God, who has ordained our circumstances. If you are battling this sin today, remember to rejoice and trust in the Lord, keep an eternal perspective, let your weaknesses magnify Christ’s power, and don’t covet what others have. Then, by God’s grace, you will be able to testify, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content . . . I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11, 13).
Ligonier Ministries