See also: Contentment
Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Contentment is the gracious, settled satisfaction of the soul with the portion God in His providence has appointed—a holy sufficiency that rests in God’s will and is freed from murmuring, anxiety, and covetousness, whatever one’s outward circumstances. Paul gives the doctrine its classic statement: ‘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 have learned, in all things... both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ Contentment is not natural to fallen man, who is restless, grasping, and never satisfied; it is, as Paul says, a thing learned—a grace acquired in the school of providence and the school of Christ. The Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs called it ‘the rare jewel of Christian contentment,’ defining it as ‘that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.’ Several things mark true contentment. It is rooted not in circumstances but in God—in His sovereignty (He appoints my lot), His wisdom (He knows what is best), His goodness (He withholds no good thing), and His sufficiency (in Him I have all). It is consistent with the lawful use of means to better one’s estate and with genuine grief under affliction; it is not stoic indifference, which feels nothing, nor lazy passivity, but a quiet submission of the will that may coexist with real sorrow. It is the great enemy of covetousness, which always wants more, and of anxiety, which always fears the future, and of murmuring, which always quarrels with God’s providence. ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’; ‘be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ The secret of contentment is therefore not having much but wanting little—or rather, having God, and finding in Him so full a portion that the soul can be satisfied with whatever else He gives or withholds. It is learned slowly, through the disciplines of providence and the deepening knowledge of Christ, until the believer can say with Paul that he has learned, in whatsoever state he is, therewith to be content.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines CONTENTMENT as rest or quietness of the mind in the present condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace, restraining complaint or further desire.
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CONTENTMENT, n. — 1. Rest or quietness of the mind in the present condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace, restraining complaint, opposition, or further desire, and often implying a moderate degree of happiness. 2. Gratification.
CONTENT, a. — Literally, held, contained within limits; hence, quiet; not disturbed; having a mind at peace; easy; satisfied, so as not to repine, object, or oppose.
📖 Key Scripture
Philippians 4:11-13 — "...for 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... And 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."
Psalm 23:1 — "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Contentment is corrupted by the consumerism and covetousness of the age, which trains the soul to perpetual dissatisfaction and to find identity in acquisition—and is counterfeited by the stoic indifference that feels nothing rather than submitting to God.
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Contentment is corrupted, in the most pervasive way, by the consumerism and covetousness that form the very air the modern soul breathes. An entire economy is built upon the manufacture of discontent: advertising exists to make men want what they do not have, to convince them that satisfaction lies in the next purchase, the next upgrade, the next acquisition—and so to keep the soul in a state of perpetual, restless craving. Identity itself is increasingly found in what one owns, wears, and consumes. This is the direct enemy of contentment, and it has deeply infected the church, where the gospel is too often presented as a means to the very prosperity and self-fulfillment that Scripture says cannot satisfy. The covetous heart, always wanting more, can never be content, for its satisfaction is always located in what it lacks.
Contentment is counterfeited, on the other hand, by the stoic indifference that mimics its calm without its substance. The stoic achieves a kind of tranquility by suppressing desire and feeling, by detaching from all that might disturb, by hardening himself against loss—but this is not Christian contentment, which is no numbness but a positive, gracious resting in God. The believer may grieve truly under affliction and yet be content; he may use lawful means to better his estate and yet be content; for his contentment is not the absence of feeling but the submission of the will to a wise and loving Father. The recovery of the doctrine cuts against both the world’s covetousness and the stoic’s detachment: true contentment is the soul’s satisfaction in God—rooted in His sovereignty, wisdom, goodness, and all-sufficiency—so that, having Him, the believer can be content with whatever else He gives or withholds. It is the rare jewel that frees the soul from murmuring, anxiety, and the endless grasping of the covetous heart, and it is learned, slowly and through the disciplines of providence, in the school of Christ, until one can say with Paul, ‘I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.’
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The doctrine rests on Paul’s autarkēs (self-sufficient, content) frame—a contentment learned (manthanō) in the school of providence, godliness with contentment great gain.
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['Greek', 'G842', 'autarkēs', 'content, self-sufficient (therewith to be content)']
['Greek', 'G841', 'autarkeia', 'contentment, sufficiency (godliness with contentment)']
['Greek', 'G3129', 'manthanō', 'to learn (I have learned to be content)']
['Greek', 'G714', 'arkeō', 'to be enough, suffice (be content with such things)']
Usage
"Christian contentment is the soul’s settled satisfaction with the portion God appoints—rooted in God, not in circumstances."
"Contentment is learned, not natural—a grace acquired in the school of providence: ‘I have learned... therewith to be content.’"
"Consumerism manufactures perpetual discontent; stoic indifference counterfeits contentment by feeling nothing—true contentment rests in God."