Contentment Is Learned

Philippians 4:11 (KJV)

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I have learned. Paul does not describe contentment as a gift he woke up with. He describes it as a skill, and skills are acquired slowly and with practice.

That single word rescues a lot of people. If contentment were a personality type, those of us who are restless and ambitious would be excluded. But it is learned — which means it can be learned by someone who is not naturally content, in a life that is not naturally easy.

Where do you learn it? In whatsoever state I am. Not in a better state later. Paul learned it in prison and in plenty, which means the classroom is always the situation you are actually in. Contentment postponed until conditions improve is never learned at all.

Practise it today, deliberately, in something small. Eat slowly. Notice what you have. Thank God for it out loud. That is a lesson, and it counts.