Can your faith do this for you : supply you each day with a deep sense of well-being, a sense of being content with yourself and your surroundings?
The Christian Faith defined as the Life of Christ himself indwelling the Church, which is his Body, has this quality as expressed so well by the Apostle Paul when he wrote-
I Have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content! (letter from prison to the Philippian Church)
The most logical question that comes to mind is, “How did Paul learn this beautiful art of living?” For him it was a major and necessary part of his faith in Jesus, the Christ, for he speaks of this in his other letters. For instance, he tells Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain“. And he tells us that this had to be learned. If Paul had to learn it, who was his teacher? He was trained under the famous Rabbi, Gamaliel, a leading authority in the Sanhedrin; did he learn the art of contentment from this teacher of Israel in the Jewish Scriptures?
I’m leaving you with this question to ponder before giving you Paul’s own answer, found in another one of his letters from prison. Think with me for a few days just how desirable this quality in life is to actually possess and then meditate on how you believe in your own situation you can learn this art, this habitual practice as part of your daily routine. Through out the history of the Church there have been examples of those in prison for their faith that have also demonstrated this contentment and calm. If you are familiar with the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor/professor imprisoned under the Nazi regime in WWII, and later put to death just before the end of the war, then you will know something of the beauty and worth of this quality in a person’s life under the most difficult of circumstances.
Read a classic on-line: The Art of Divine Contentment by Watson
May 28, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hi. Once again I have been behind on checking on your blog. I like this post because the art of contentment is truly a gift. Paul didn’t learned this from any person. He learned this through the Holy Spirit. I have always strived towards 100% contentment but haven’t made it there yet. Made the Lord open all of our hearts to recieve this gift!
July 28, 2009 at 8:29 am
So, I have decided to finally note here the answer I promised about where Saint Paul in fact LEARNED the art of Godly Contentment. Faith’s comment is certainly right on when she asserts that “the art of contentment is truly a gift”. But even the best gifts in life have to be taught/learned and that is the case of Paul’s statement that he “learned” how to be content in every situation.
And the answer is- revealed in this post at the begining of posting for the Year of Saint Paul:
https://e4unity.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/a-golden-opportunity-a-special-jubilee-year/
July 7, 2020 at 1:05 pm
Reblogged this on E4unity : A Prophetic Advocate for Unity and Peace and commented:
Update for days of Covid-19 pandemic.