I hope last night’s LIFE Groups went well for everyone; a study of Philippians is always a worthwhile investment of your time as the text is filled with great nuggets of wisdom and practical advice. Maybe the most famous section of the book comes in chapter four, as the Apostle Paul discusses the notion of contentment (ch4:11). You may not know this, but the meaning of the word contentment is actually “self-sufficient.” In other words, by the world’s definition, to be content is to be a person who doesn’t need anyone else’s help, doesn’t need anyone else’s support, doesn’t need anyone else to pick them up, bail them out, or guide their way. A content person is someone who can handle it all on their own.
That does not sound like a Christian.
Paul loves to use little seemingly contradictory turns of phrases in his writing (for example, he talks about being “free to be a slave” in Romans 6). He does it to show how incompatible Christianity is with the world; there’s nothing like being a child of God because it doesn’t follow any worldly conventions or thought processes. So here, in Philippians, when he says Christians are “content,” the early readers might have thought he meant Christians must be self-sufficient. Imagine their surprise when he followed that up by saying: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (ch4:13).
To be content as a Christian is not to be self-sufficient at all; it is to be Christ-sufficient. It is to humble ourselves entirely and give ourselves completely to the Lord. When we do that, we will trust Him to guide us and lead us, to pick us up, bail us out, and help us along the way. It’s a very relieving thing to be a child of God. You give your life into the care of the Almighty. You become like a baby being held in the arms of a loving parent, without a care in the world, perfectly satisfied and at peace.
That’s “Christian contentment,” and it’s like nothing the world can offer.
~Matthew