2.1 Key themes⤒🔗

In the Bible we find six reasons why it is important for a Christian to be content:

• God commands us to be content.
• Contentment is a great treasure.
• It is a sin to complain against God.
• Discontentment leads to other sins.
• Contentment says, “Let God’s will be done.”
• Contentment brings peace.

2.2 Philippians 4:4–9←⤒🔗

4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!

5. Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near!

6. Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.

7.  And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

8. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.

9. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.

© NET Bible

2.3 – 1 Timothy 6:6–10←⤒🔗

^6. Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit.

^7. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either.

^8. But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that.

^9. Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

^10. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

© NET Bible

2.4 Why so important?←⤒🔗

Why is contentment so important? Our two passages (Philippians 4:4-9 and 1 Timothy 6:6-10) give us six reasons why. In this lesson we will look carefully at each of these reasons.

2.5 Reason #1: God commands us to be content←⤒🔗

God commands us to rejoice in him (Philippians 4:4). Joy and contentment go together. We will only rejoice in God if we trust him and if we are content with his will for our lives.

Contentment is also a direct command in the Bible. For example, Hebrews 13:5 says, “you must be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.’”

Another place where we are commanded to be content, is in the Ten Commandments. The Tenth Commandment says, “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour” (Exodus 20:17).

To “covet” means to strongly desire something that does not belong to you. When we do this, it shows that we are not content with God’s will for our lives.

Do you see? God commands you to trust him and to be satisfied with the life that he gives you. When you obey this command, you are bringing glory to God.

2.6 Reason #2: Contentment is a great treasure←⤒🔗

Look again at the words of 1 Timothy 6:6: “Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit.” When you have love for God (“godliness”) and contentment, you are rich! You are richer and happier than the person who has a lot of money, but always wants more. You have a great treasure.

Contentment is a treasure that lasts forever. The next verse (1 Timothy 6:7) reminds us that all of us will die one day. On that day we will not take our money and things with us. On that day we will stand before God and the only thing that will matter is the relationship that we have with him. That is why “godliness combined with contentment” is a great treasure, now and forever.

God’s Word also has something special to say to every Christian woman. Every woman wants to be beautiful! And in 1 Peter 3:3-4 we read that a woman is truly beautiful when she has “the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit.” A “gentle and tranquil” spirit is a spirit that is content in God.

2.7 Reason #3: It is a sin to complain against God←⤒🔗

When we complain about life, it means we are not satisfied with what God has given us. We complain because we do not trust God and we are not grateful to him. Such an attitude offends God.

The Bible gives us a good example of this attitude. God had just saved his people, the Israelites, from Egypt. He was leading them through the desert, to take them to the Promised Land. But very soon they started complaining about their life in the desert. They even asked Moses to take them back to Egypt! God became very angry because of this. He sent fire and disease into their camp (Numbers 11).

The Israelites had forgotten how God had saved them from Egypt. They had forgotten all his blessings. They did not thank him for it. They also did not trust that he would care for them. Such an attitude is a great sin.

The Bible warns us that we should not be like the Israelites in the desert. We should always remember how God saved us through his Son, Jesus Christ. We should always thank him and trust in him. Then we will do all things “without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14).

2.8 Reason #4: Discontentment leads to other sins←⤒🔗

We have seen that it is a sin to be discontent and to complain. But discontentment also leads to many other sins.

Let us think of a few examples:

When Satan spoke to Eve in the garden, she became discontent with her situation. Suddenly she wanted more than what God had given her. God had given her all the trees in the garden, but now she wanted to eat from the one tree that was forbidden: the tree of knowledge. This caused her to disobey God, and to lead her husband into sin.

When David saw Bathsheba, he forgot about all the blessings that God had already given him. He wanted Bathsheba, even though she was the wife of another man. This led to adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11).

Judas, the disciple of Jesus, was discontent with the money that God had given him. This caused him to steal and to betray Jesus (John 12:6; John 13:2).

From these examples (and many more), we can see that discontentment is a dangerous trap (1 Timothy 6:9). It leads to many other sins. It can even make us leave the faith (1 Timothy 6:10).

2.9 Reason #5: Contentment says, “Let God’s will be done”←⤒🔗

Jesus taught us to pray, Your kingdom come, your will be done.” When we are content, we show that God’s will is more important than our will. We show that we trust in God, not in our own plans and ideas.

Remember that Paul was in prison when he wrote his letter to the Philippians. At the beginning of his letter, he says that he is not unhappy because he is in prison. He even says that he is happy, because from prison he can help more people to hear the gospel (Philippians 1:12)!

Paul accepted God’s will for his life. He was content, as long as God’s will was done and God’s name glorified.

2.10 Reason #6: Contentment brings peace←⤒🔗

In Philippians 4:6–7 we see that God wants us to have peace in our hearts. These verses also tell us how to have peace. We should not be anxious (worried) about anything (verse 6). When something bothers us or when we need something, we should pray about it (verse 6). Then God will give us his peace to guard our hearts and minds (verse 7).

Are there things in your life that bother you? Are there things that you need? Do not complain about these things. Rather, pray to God. Praise and thank him while you pray (verse 6). Trust in him! He is your Father who cares for you. He wants you to enjoy his peace.