Learning the Secret of Contentment
WHAT IS CONTENTMENT?
“It is an inner sense of rest or peace that comes from being right with God and knowing that He is in control of all that happens to us.”
It is rooted in the eternal God rather than the temporal self. Those who are in Christ are God-sufficient rather than self-sufficient.
WHAT IT IS NOT.
The Greek word which is translated “content” in verse 11 is one which means
self-sufficient or independent.
The Stoic philosophers of Paul’s day considered this the essence of all virtues.
For them it described the person who had become detached from his
emotions and indifferent to the difficulties and hardships in life.
Paul, however, was not detached from people nor from his feelings.