📖 Biblical Definition
The settled satisfaction with what God has provided. Paul names it as great gain: But godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6). Hebrews 13:5: Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. The Greek autarkeia (sufficiency) carried a Stoic flavor that Paul filled with new content: not Stoic self-sufficiency but Christ-sufficiency. Philippians 4:11-13 is autobiographical: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound... I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Contentment is not native to the heart; it is learned — cultivated through repeated experience of God's sufficiency across changing circumstances. The contented Christian is uncommon and conspicuous; modern consumerist culture is designed to prevent the disposition from forming.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Settled satisfaction with what God provides.
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The settled satisfaction with what God has provided — neither idleness nor consumerism — that Paul calls 'great gain'; learned through experience in want and abundance; the Spirit-empowered freedom from envy and grasping.
📖 Key Scripture
Philippians 4:11-13 — "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content... I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
1 Timothy 6:6-8 — "But godliness with contentment is great gain... having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
Hebrews 13:5 — "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Replaced by perpetual aspirational restlessness; the consumer engine cannot run on contented hearts.
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Modern marketing depends on discontent. Christianity teaches contentment as great gain. The two are at war. Paul learned contentment in want and in abundance — both are contexts for the lesson. Begin by giving thanks for what you already have.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek autarkeia — sufficiency.
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['Greek', 'G841', 'autarkeia', 'contentment, sufficiency']
['Greek', 'G714', 'arkeō', 'to be sufficient']
Usage
"Godliness with contentment is great gain."
"Learn contentment in want and abundance both."