For me, ‘content’ is on a continuum from not very to very. And it slides up and down the scale never quite reaching either. I know that Paul tells us that we should be content but I also think we need to define the word. ‘Content’ is aligned with accepting but in both cases positively viewed not a resignation.
There is something distasteful about giving up so if content is something we should attain then it can’t be through this method. It isn’t giving up or giving in…. it isn’t a consolation prize. Content is mildly pleased, it really isn’t an emotion/state that causes great exuberance and equally important, it isn’t a stationary position. And my definition includes a provision for issue specific. You can be content in one area of your life and not very in a different area.
Paul talks about that he has learned to be content. Learned. Which means that this wasn’t a natural state for him either and that it is a learned condition. Paul is talking specifically about need when he says: “… for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content…” (Philippians 4:11). So if Paul can learn, so can we.
Earlier Paul gives us some guidance on how to attain ‘content’: “,,, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these thing.” (Philippians 4:8) One really can’t meditate on those things and grumble at the same time.
Being content does give us a mindset of peace and in that state we can move forward. Content is not a place of no movement, it is a place to rest and reflect in order to move proactively.
