Is a disposition of mind in which our desires are confined to what we enjoy, without murmuring at our lot, or wishing ardently for more. It stands opposed to envy, Jas 3:16. to avarice, Heb 13:5. to pride and ambition, Pro 13:10. to anxiety of mind, Mat 6:25; Mat 6:34. to murmurings and repinings, 1Co 10:10. Contentment does not imply unconcern about our welfare, or that we should not have a sense of any thing uneasy or distressing; nor does it give any countenance to idleness, or prevent diligent endeavours to improve our circumstances. It implies, however, that our desires of worldly good be moderate; that we do not indulge unnecessary care, or use unlawful efforts to better ourselves; but that we acquiesce with and make the best of our condition, whatever it be. Contentment arises not from a man’s outward condition, but from his inward disposition, and is the genuine offspring of humility, attended with a fixed habitual sense of God’s particular providence, the recollection of past mercies, and a just estimate of the true nature of all earthly things Motives to contentment arise from the consideration of the rectitude of the Divine government, Psa 97:1-2. the benignity of the Divine providence, Psa 145:1-21: the greatness of the Divine promises, 2Pe 1:4. our own unworthiness, Gen 32:1-10. the punishments we deserve, Lam 3:39-40. the reward which contentment itself brings with it, 1Ti 6:6. the speedy termination of all our troubles here, and the prospect of eternal felicity in a future state, Rom 5:2. Barrow’s Works, vol. 3: ser. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Burroughs on Contentment; Watson’s Art of ditto; Hale’s Con. p 59; Mason’s Christian Morals, vol. 1: ser.2.
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Being Content With What You Have
Luk_3:14; 1Ti_6:7-8; Heb_13:5.
Godliness With Contentment
1Ti_6:6.
CONTENTMENT.—1. The word does not occur in the OT, but the duty is implied in the Tenth Commandment (Exo 20:17), and the wisdom of contentment is enforced in Pro 15:17; Pro 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 (Rom 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. Psa 16:6 with Psa 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 (Luk 12:15-21), positively by His teaching as to the Fatherhood of God (Mat 6:25-32 ||) and the Kingdom of God (Mat 6:33, cf. Mat 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 autarkçs, lit. ‘self-sufficient.’ It was a characteristic word of the Stoic philosophy, implying an independence of everything outside of oneself. The Apostle’s self-sufficiency was of a very different kind (see Php 4:13), for it rested on that great promise of Christ, ‘My grace is sufficient (arkei) for thee’ (2Co 12:9). Christian contentment comes not from a Stoic narrowing of our desires, but from the sense of being filled with the riches of Christ’s grace. For other NT utterances see 1Ti 6:8, Heb 13:5.
J. C. Lambert.