Reference: Contentment
Easton
(1) a state of mind in which one's desires are confined to his lot whatever it may be (1Ti 6:6; 2Co 9:8). It is opposed to envy (Jas 3:16), avarice (Heb 13:5), ambition (Pr 13:10), anxiety (Mt 6:25,34), and repining (1Co 10:10). It arises from the inward disposition, and is the offspring of humility, and of an intelligent consideration of the rectitude and benignity of divine providence (Ps 96:1-2; 145), the greatness of the divine promises (2Pe 1:4), and our own unworthiness (Ge 32:10); as well as from the view the gospel opens up to us of rest and peace hereafter (Ro 5:2).
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That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life here--what you can get to eat or drink; nor yet about your body-- what you can get to wear. Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing?
Therefore do not be anxious about to-morrow, for to-morrow will bring its own anxieties. Every day has trouble enough of its own.
It is through him that, by reason of our faith, we have obtained admission to that place in God's favor in which we not stand. So let us exult in our hope of attaining God's glorious ideal.
And do not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so 'were destroyed by the Angel of Death.'
And a great source of gain religion is, when it brings contentment with it!
Do not let your conduct be ruled by the love of money. Be content with what you have, for God himself has said-- 'I will never forsake you, nor will I ever abandon you.'
For, where envy and rivalry exist, there you will also find disorder and all kinds of base actions.
For it was through this that he gave us what we prize as the greatest of his promises, that through them you might participate in the divine nature, now that you have fled from the corruption in the world, resulting from human passions.
Hastings
1. The word does not occur in the OT, but the duty is implied in the Tenth Commandment (Ex 20:17), and the wisdom of contentment is enforced in Pr 15:17; 17:1 by the consideration that those who seem most enviable may, be worse off than ourselves. But the bare commandment 'Thou shalt not covet' may only stir up all manner of coveting (Ro 7:7 f.); and though a man may sometimes be reconciled to his lot by recognizing a principle of compensation in human life, that principle is far from applying to every case. It is not by measuring ourselves with one another, but only by consciously setting ourselves in the Divine presence, that true contentment can ever be attained. Faith in God is its living root (cf. Ps 16:6 with Ps 16:5; also Hab 3:17 f.).
2. In the NT the grace of contentment is expressly brought before us. Our Lord inculcated it negatively by His warnings against covetousness (Lu 12:15-21), positively by His teaching as to the Fatherhood of God (Mt 6:25-32 ||) and the Kingdom of God (Mt 6:33, cf. Mt 6:19 f.). St. Paul (Php 4:11-13) claims to have 'learned the secret' of being content in whatsoever state he was. The word he uses is autark
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Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life here--what you can get to eat or drink; nor yet about your body-- what you can get to wear. Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing? Look at the wild birds--they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them! And are not you more precious than they? read more. But which of you, by being anxious, can prolong his life a single moment? And why be anxious about clothing? Study the wild lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin; Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not robed like one of these. If God so clothes even the grass of the field, which is living to-day and to-morrow will be thrown into the oven, will not he much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Do not then ask anxiously 'What can we get to eat?' or 'What can we get to drink?' or 'What can we get to wear?' All these are the things for which the nations are seeking, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But first seek his Kingdom and the righteousness that he requires, and then all these things shall be added for you.
And then he added: "Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness; for even in the height of his prosperity a man's true Life does not depend on what he has." Then Jesus told them this parable-- "There was once a rich man whose land was very fertile; read more. And he began to ask himself 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? This is what I will do,' he said; 'I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them; And I will say to myself, Now you have plenty of good things put by for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.' But God said to the man 'Fool! This very night your life is being demanded; and as for all you have prepared--who will have it?' So it is with those who lay by wealth for themselves and are not rich to the glory of God."
What are we to say, then? That Law and sin are the same thing? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, I should not have learned what sin is, had not it been for Law. If the Law did not say 'Thou shalt not covet,' I should not know what it is to covet.
But his reply has been-- 'My help is enough for you; for my strength attains its perfection in the midst of weakness.' Most gladly, then, will I boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Christ may overshadow me.
Do not think that I am saying this under the pressure of want. For I, however I am placed, have learned to be independent of circumstances. I know how to face humble circumstances, and I know how to face prosperity. Into all and every human experience I have been initiated--into plenty and hunger, into prosperity and want. read more. I can do everything in the strength of him who makes me strong!
I can do everything in the strength of him who makes me strong!
So, with food and shelter, we will be content.
Do not let your conduct be ruled by the love of money. Be content with what you have, for God himself has said-- 'I will never forsake you, nor will I ever abandon you.'