Contentment

God has the power to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace. That way, you will have everything you need always and in everything to provide more than enough for every kind of good work.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all contentment in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.



There is constant bickering between people whose minds are ruined and who have been robbed of the truth. They think that godliness is a way to make money!  Actually, godliness is a great source of profit when it is combined with being happy with what you already have.

I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance.
-2 Cor. 9:8, (CEB, ESV); 1 Tim. 6:5-6, Phil. 4:11(CEB)

Contentment Defined

Contentment, in the Bible, means sufficiency in God.  It is defined as:
Self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction or independence: used of the Spirit-filled Christian – having all they need within & through the indwelling Christ. (Strong's Concordance & HELPS Word-studies)
The Source of Contentment

Your needs are met by the Lord, and the experience of this is called contentment. To be plugged into God, is to be content.  If your source of happiness is God, you can be happy anywhere.

Holy Discontent

Before I go on, I want to mention what some have called, "holy discontent". It is when God is nudging you and stirring your nest and urging you to move out of your comfort zone.  The Christian life is a continuous life of pilgrimage, sojourning, going out and off the map.  So, God does pull back our contentment sometimes, to urge us to move out; and in the moving out, we paradoxically find contentment again, even though things might still be unsettled.

Contentment is about getting your needs met, not your wants.

This is how contentment is expressed in 2 Corinthians 9:8:  "You will have everything you need", or "having all contentment (sufficiency) in all things at all times" (CEB, ESV translations).  Contentment is about getting your needs met.  Needs can be confused with wants.  Wants are different.  I need food and shelter.  I need to stay alive by being safe and having health.  I need relationships, with people and with God.

Contentment is True Riches

1 Timothy 6:6, in the ESV, says, "but godliness with contentment is great gain".  In the CEB, it reads, "godliness is a great source of profit when it is combined with being happy with what you already have."  The contrast that Paul is making here, is that the false teachers that were infiltrating the church were not only teaching falsely, but making money from their "godliness".

True godliness, piety, or devoutness; authentic spirituality in and through Christ, will have contentment in it, that is a greater reward or benefit than making money. That is what 1 Timothy 6:6 is saying. This is how The Voice translation puts it:
"This is ironic because godliness, along with contentment, does put us ahead but not in the ways some imagine."

Grace For Today

There is a secret to blooming where you are planted or playing the hand you are dealt.  God gives you grace where he has you.  That's contentment.  Contentment is abiding in the Lord, in this time and in this place, and letting God be enough.

The Spirit-filled Life

You might be a dreamer with unfulfilled dreams, but living toward the answers now and being content to the hallway or valley between the past and the future.   The Spirit-filled life is the antidote for discontent.  The Holy Spirit is the most positive and optimistic person in your life.  He also is the most wise person and the the person in your life who loves Jesus the most.  Check out Francis Chan's book, Forgotten God, to be encouraged to remember the Holy Spirit in your life.

We Learn Contentment.
"I have learned how to be content in any circumstance."
It's about practicing the presence of God.  A new anything will not give you contentment.  New things or new situations are a thrill, but they don't satisfy.  Only God satisfies.  Carving out time in your life to spend with God will make all the difference.  We learn to let go of the victim mentality.  We learn our new identity in Christ.  We learn forgiveness.  We learn how to live in Christ.  We learn, "thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven."  We learn that we are seated in heavenly places and we learn, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."  The Christian life is a life of learning, of growth, and we learn contentment.


Contentment for the Spirit-filled Christian is: Having all you need within and through the indwelling Christ.