Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:8-14
Learning to be Content
Intro.
1. How can we live in contentment as we face health issues, financial hardships, emotional traumas, and trials because of our faith?
2. Since there is “nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9) we expect to find answers in the word of God and the lives of those who have already passed from the scene of this earthly stage.
I. WE NEED TO BIBLICALLY DEFINE CONTENTMENT SO WE HAVE A SCRIPTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF IT.
A. “Sufficient for One’s Self” (Thayer, 85), Phil. 4:11 (autarkes).
1. “Strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support.”
2. Adequacy that is “independent of external circumstances” (Ibid).
3. arkeo: “To be sufficient, to be possessed or sufficient strength, to be strong, to be enough for a thing” (Vine II:125).
a. With wages, Lk. 3:14.
b. With food and clothing, 1 Tim. 6:6, 8; “Sufficiency,” 2 Cor. 9:8.
c. With such things as you have, Heb. 13:5.
B. Contentment will be Found in Valuing Spiritual Things Above Material Things, Prov. 30:7-9; Lk. 9:57-58.
C. Contentment is Not Complacency or Resignation, Eccl. 4:4-6; 5:12; 9:7-10. It is not fatalism.
1. Contentment is not merely “surviving,” it is thriving in the Lord.
2. Contentment is sufficiency, free from covetousness and envy, Eccl. 6:7-9 (Heb. 13:5).
II. HOW DO I LEARN TO BE CONTENT IN THE FACE OF LIFE’S CHALLENGES, STRUGGLES, DISAPPOINTMENTS, FEARS, GRIEF, AND SORROW?
A. First of All, Look to Jesus, Heb. 12:1-2 (lay aside every weight).
1. An issue of faith, and growing in our faith, Heb. 13:5-6.
2. Lay up treasures in heaven by serving Jesus, Matt. 6:19-21 (24).
3. Trust God’s provisions are sufficient to sustain us, Rom. 8:37.
B. I Must Learn to Distinguish between My Wants and My Needs, Phil. 4:11.
1. God promises my needs when I set His priorities, Matt. 6:25-34.
2. He does not promise to give me my wants, cf. Paul, 2 Cor. 12:8-9.
3. God will listen to our prayers about needs and wants, and answer us according to His will, 1 Jno. 5:14-15 (Matt. 7:7-8).
C. I Must Properly Value What is Truly Important, Lk. 10:38-42.
-cf. Psa. 37:16; Prov. 16:8 (righteousness).
D. I Must Learn that My State is not My State of Mind, Phil. 4:11.
1. Circumstances do not define who you are or who you will be.
2. cf. Jesus, apostles, Men and women of faith, Heb. 11:32-39.
E. I Must Learn to Rely on the Strength of Christ Instead of My Own Strength, Phil. 4:13.
1. Our power to cope with our struggles, etc. is from Christ, through faith, Eph. 3:16-17.
2. Our power to cope is linked to knowing the love of Christ, Eph. 3:18-19.
3. Our power to cope is linked to our reliance on Christ through prayer and the practice of our faith, Eph. 3:20-21 (Phil. 2:12-13).
4. cf. Paul’s physical ailments, 2 Cor. 12:9-10.
F. I Must Learn What is Within My Capacity and Responsibility to Do (Change), and What is Not, cf. Josh. 24:14-15.
1. Job did not have the capacity to change his losses, Job 1:20-22.
2. Jesus had the capacity, but did not use it, Matt. 26:53 (39, 42).
3. Paul used his ability to adjust his circumstances:
a. Plot against his life, Acts 23:11-35.
b. Appealed to Caesar, Acts 25:11.
c. Contentment does not mean we do nothing to improve our circumstances. When in need, he worked (1 Cor. 4:12).
G. I Must Learn to be Thankful in Every Circumstance of Life, and to Always Express My Thankfulness, 1 Thess. 5:18.
-By counting our many blessings we develop attitudes of faith and sufficiency, reliance and relief, Eph. 1:3.
H. Guard Against Envying Others (crucify the flesh), Gal. 5:24-26.
-Envy and greed provoke discontented attitudes like bitterness and malice toward others (Rom. 12:15).
I. I Must Respect the Sovereignty of God and Humble Myself before Him, Job 1:20-22; 42:1-6.
Conclusion
1. Must learn to be content (by the habit of obedience), Heb. 5:8-9.
2. Contented people are equipped and strengthened to serve others instead of themselves (looking outward, not inward), Phil. 4:13.
By: Joe R. Price
Posted June 17, 2019