Secret to Contentment
” ... I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:10-13, NIV)
Stoics were people who seeked contentment by removing all desires and wants. Perfection, for the Stoic, was attained by being so self-sufficient, that even the death of a wife would not bother the Stoic. Their path to contentment also caused a path to an uncompassionate, inhuman heart.
In Philippians, Paul shows us a better contentment that can handle both the lack of and the abundance of the gifts of God. It is a contentment that is not based on Stoic self-sufficiency, but on the Christian’s God-sufficiency.
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