The Bible has quite a bit to say about being content. For example:

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

The Bible not only identifies contentment as a virtue but speaks of it as a command. You are to be content with whatever you have. You are to be content with food and clothing. You are to be content with your wages. You are to be content because you understand that an utterly, and totally, and infinitely, and supernaturally resourceful God will never leave you or forsake you. Contentment is a virtue and a command.

Frankly, most people don’t experience it. And most Christians don’t experience it to the degree that God desires us to. We tend to be very discontent people. And I have this personal theory that the more you have, the more discontent you become. If that is true, then this must be one of the most discontent societies in the history of the human race.

We are called to contentment. We are called to be satisfied. We are called to say, “I have enough.” But most of us don’t experience that.

Paul did. Paul was a contented man:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:10-19)

When you read that, it becomes immediately clear that Paul knew what it was to be content. And if we look very closely at this passage, we can find the secret to our own contentment as well.

Now remember, Paul wrote this letter as a prisoner. He was chained to a Roman soldier, isolated and under house arrest. He was unable to move about freely. He was therefore much in need, probably existing at a subsistence level.

This was, no doubt, the saddest part of the life of Paul up to this point: being chained to a soldier, able to touch only a few friends who could find him, and anticipating a trial before Nero which could result in his execution.

This was a very trying time. And these dear Philippians, having heard about his need, had sent gifts to meet Paul’s needs. In this passage, Paul is expressing his gratitude. The primary intent of these verses is to express thanksgiving. But beneath the surface is a vision of what it looks like to be content. Here, we find the example which we so desperately need to follow.

By the way, “content” is a marvelous word. It goes back to the Greek term which meant to be self-sufficient, to be satisfied, to have enough. The term indicates a certain independence, a certain lack of necessity for aid or help. In fact, it was used in some places outside of Scripture to refer to a person who supported himself without anyone’s aid. So when Paul says that he is content, he is saying, “I have learned to be satisfied. I’ve learned to be sufficient in myself — and yet not in myself as myself, but in myself as indwelt by Christ.”

Self-sufficiency had been made a virtue in Greek culture by the Stoics. The Stoics believed that this concept of contentment was reached when you had come to the point of total indifference. When you were indifferent to everything, then and only then would you be content. If something of value, whether an object or a loved one or your own body, was threatened, the Stoics taught that you should say, “I don’t care.”

This Stoic contentment abolishes feeling and emotion. That’s not what Paul is talking about. When he talks about contentment, he may use the same word (autarks) that the Stoics used, but he means something very different. He does not mean passionless carelessness. He does not mean indifference. Paul was deeply compassionate; he cared greatly. But he was still content.

So, Paul takes the idea of contentment much further than it was taken even in the Greek culture where the word found its meaning. Paul was content.

Notice again how he says, in the middle of verse 12, “I have learned the secret.” This is a fascinating verb; it is a verb that is used to speak of being initiated into the mystery religion — of being initiated into the pagan cults which held certain secrets for only the initiated to know. Paul borrows that word and says, “I have been initiated into the secrets of contentment. I have learned the secret of living a contented life.”

So, what is the secret of contentment? That’s what we’re going to learn in these verses. Beginning in the next post, I will lay out the strands, if you will, in the fabric of contentment.

This post is based on a sermon Dr. MacArthur preached in 1989, titled “The Secret of Contentment, Part 1.”