Philippians 4:10\u201313 (ESV)
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.<\/p>\n
Today, I simply want to make clear the biblical meaning of contentment.<\/p>\n
The word itself is a combination of two Greek words. One means \u201chimself\u201d and the other means \u201cto suffice.\u201d So, the words together mean, \u201cone is sufficient within himself,\u201d or, \u201cone is self-sufficient in a good sense.\u201d It indicates independence from any need for help. It is sometimes translated as satisfied. To be content, then, is to feel satisfaction within a situation. So, Paul says, \u201cI have learned in whatever situation to be content.\u201d That is, to be satisfied or at ease with himself.<\/p>\n
But, there is more to this word. To the Greek stoic philosophers, the idea meant a state of mind in which a man was absolutely independent of all things and of all people. The very definition of Stoicism is \u201can indifference to pleasure of pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barclay says, “They proposed to eliminate all desire. The Stoic rightly believed that contentment did not consist in possessing much but in wanting little, \u2018If you want to make a man happy,\u2019 they said, \u2018add not to his possessions, but take away from his desires.\u2019 Socrates was once asked who was the wealthiest man. He answered: \u2018He who is content with least, for autarkeia (contentment) is nature\u2019s wealth.\u2019 The Stoics believed that the only way to contentment was to abolish all desire until a man had come to a stage when nothing and no one were essential to him. They proposed to eliminate all emotion until a man had come to a stage when he did not care what happened either to himself or to anyone else\u201d.<\/p>\n
This is the exact opposite of what Paul meant. While the Stoics believed that the way to contentment was by the power of self-sufficient control of one\u2019s thoughts, Paul believed that contentment came by Christ\u2019s power working in him. He had learned that the secret to contentment was the power of Christ, who gave him strength to endure any and every situation.<\/p>\n
The Stoics used this word to mean human self-reliance and fortitude, a calm acceptance of life\u2019s pressures. But, Paul used it to refer to a divinely bestowed sufficiency, whatever the circumstances.<\/p>\n
An anonymous quote goes like this: \u201cIt is a blessed secret when the believer learns how to carry a high head with an empty stomach, an upright look with an empty pocket, a happy heart with an unpaid salary, joy in God when men are faithless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are you content with the situation you are now in?<\/p>\n\n\n
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Philippians 4:10\u201313 (ESV)10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3521"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3525,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions\/3525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}