Week 18 of 52
Contentment
Paul calls contentment something he learned, not something he was born with.
Built on Philippians 4:10-13. Writing from prison, thanking the Philippians for a gift, Paul explains that he has learned to be content in any circumstance, and names the source of that strength.
Contentment in Scripture is not resignation and it is not indifference. Paul, writing to a church that had just sent him money while he sat in prison, says plainly that he has learned to be content whether he has plenty or little. The word learned matters: this was not his temperament, it was a discipline built over years of both abundance and want.
This week reads contentment from several angles: Paul's own testimony, the psalmist's picture of a quieted soul, the writer of Hebrews warning against the love of money, Solomon's warning about never being satisfied, and Israel's manna, which could not be hoarded past a day. None of these treat contentment as passive. Each treats it as something learned in relationship to God.
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Seven days
Each day is its own devotional
Day 1
I Have Learned to Be Content
A prisoner writes about being satisfied whatever his circumstances.
Philippians 4:11
Day 2
I Can Do All Things Through Him
A famous verse read in the context it was written for.
Philippians 4:13
Day 3
A Quieted Soul
David pictures contentment as a weaned child at rest.
Psalm 131:2
Day 4
Never Enough
Solomon names the ache that no amount of gain satisfies.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Day 5
Bread for Today
Manna could not be hoarded past its day.
Exodus 16:19-20
Day 6
Godliness with Contentment
Paul warns Timothy about a different gospel: gain as godliness.
1 Timothy 6:6
Day 7
The Lord Is My Portion
A man with nothing left finds something that cannot be taken.
Lamentations 3:24