I have learned to be content. Philippians 4:2 (NIV)
Contentment is a Christian grace that grows over time. It does not come quickly, easily, or naturally. But it can be learned.
How did Paul learn it? He tells us: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content” (4:12).
He is saying, “There were times when I had plenty. But then God brought me to situations where I was in need, and through that, I learned something. I discovered the secret of being content.” God used the experience of loss to produce the good fruit of contentment in Paul’s life. Have you discovered the secret of being content?
Jeremiah Burroughs, in his book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, describes contentment as a rare jewel. He asks the question: How can you find joy in what God gives you, especially when that is less than you had before?
Burroughs offers great wisdom: “A Christian comes to contentment, not so much by way of addition as by way of subtraction.” He explains that contentment does not come by adding to what you have, but by subtracting from what you desire.
The world says that you will find contentment when your possessions rise to meet the level of your desires. Burroughs says, “The Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions.”
What might it look like for you to stop trying to raise your possessions to meet the level of your desires, and instead to start trying to bring your desires down to the level of your possessions?
