Over the past few years I’ve come to the conclusion that our society lives in a constant state of discontentment.
We’re not happy with our leaders, with our spouse, our children, or the things that we have.
Our house is too small, our TV is an older model and our smartphone doesn’t have the latest 5G technology. So what’s a person to do in order to find contentment in such a restless world, and why can’t we seem to find the contentment that we’re looking for?
Many of us are trying to fill a void of some kind in our lives, and unfortunately we try to fill that void with things that can’t satisfy.
We look to fill the void with possessions or money, but we only end up wanting more. We try to fill it with relationships or sex, but we end up feeling even more empty and depressed than when we started.
Wealth is “like seawater: the more you drink, the thirstier you become.” – philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
All of these things we try to fill our lives with aren’t necessarily bad things, but when they become the end goals, and the reason for our being, we end up being discontent because those things were never meant to fulfill us.
The only place that we can really find true fulfillment and contentment is in Christ. True contentment isn’t something that we find in things, people or circumstances, it can only be discovered in our convictions.
Author Rob Kuban talks contentment based on conviction:
The Bible calls us to allow our convictions, not our circumstances, to govern our sense of contentment. True, biblical contentment is a conviction that Christ’s power, purpose and provision is sufficient for every circumstance. We are to learn how to walk through all kinds of adversity believing in and experiencing Christ’s sufficiency. We have to choose to rest on God’s good promises despite what may be going on in our lives.
10 Bible Verses About Contentment And Hope In A Broken World
True contentment comes from accepting Christ, and having faith that in Him you will have everything you need. Christ is sufficient, and his promises are enough.
Here are some verses that speak to how to find true contentment in Christ.
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
1 Timothy 6:6-12 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
2 Cor. 12:9-10 “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” …Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Job 36:11 If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.
Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
Psalm 34:10b Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Romans 12:2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Proverbs 30: 7-9 Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
Luke 3:14 And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
Proverbs 14:30 A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Biblical Contentment Found In Striving To Be More Like Christ
What stands out to me from the verses above is that they all have a common thread.
You can find contentment only in Christ, and in striving to serve Him.
Contentment can’t be found in God’s creation or in things like people, possessions, or money.
In fact those things may hinder your pursuit for true happiness and contentment.
Seek God out in His word, and in prayer, and you’ll be much more likely to find contentment in Him.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any of your own favorite Bible verses about contentment?
More Bible Verses To Ponder
Want to do some more study? Here are some more articles we’ve written detailing what the Bible says about different topics.
- Bible Verses About Money
- Bible Verses of Encouragement
- Bible Verses About Hope
- Bible Verses About Strength In Hard Times
- Bible Verses About Thanksgiving And Appreciation
- 8 More Bible Verses About Money
- Bible Verses About Contentment
- Scriptures About Love
- Bible Verses About Overcoming Adversity, Struggles And Hardship
- Bible Verses About Worry
Finding contentment is something I have struggled with my entire life. Depression dominated my life for many years. I tried anti depressants, consoling, everything I could think of. Some of it helps temporarly, but in the long term I still haven’t really found a fit. In turn, sometimes I end up acting impulsively and making poor choices. The only thing that gives me peace is reading The Word. That’s the honest-to-God truth. I try to carry around bible verses with me…some of them memorized, some of them in paintings and pictures around the house – all things to remind me where I need to turn to when I feel restless.
Ecclesiastes has some good stuff to say about contentment and how Solomon could not find meaning in anything under the sun and therefore hated life. He was writing from a perspective of life with virtually no God. The only God mentioned in the book is with the Hebrew word “Elohim” which is the word for God as the creator but not God as a personal and relational God. The word for God as a relational God is “Jehovah” and isn’t mentioned in Ecclesiastes. So, if we take this into context when reading the book we see that in all the things that Solomon searched for meaning in, they all fell short and essentially turned to dust in his hands. The hebrew word for idol means less than nothing and is also mentioned in the book. The relevance of this is that these things, these idols that he was striving toward were like less than nothing and took more than they gave. God built meaninglessness into the system in order to bring us back to him. When a person isn’t content it is because they are searching for meaning in something that was never meant to satisfy them. Since the beginning it has been the nature of man to try and be independent of God and that is what we are doing when we try to find that meaning in things other than God because we are trying to bring meaning to our own lives when God is the only one who can do that. In Ecclesiastes it also mentions the power to enjoy the things that we have. You can only enjoy something when you stop trying to get something out of it. You have to be filled without the thing so that you approach it as a gift because you don’t have to be fulfilled by this thing. This idea is mentioned in Haggai 2:15-17 where it says, “Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but them. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD.” What this means is that we go after things with the expectation of being satisfied and they all fall short in order to bring us back to God. If we are citizens of heaven then our connection is to God and not to things of this world and that is a beautiful thing because the things on earth and all the earthly pursuits are meaningless.
Thank you so much for sharing this deep thoughts.
I’m satisfied and overwhelmed after reading this.
God bless you!
Thank you
Am well bless with this message, more grace and wisdom upon you.
God richly bless you for such a powerful message.
I love what you said when you said, “When a person isn’t content it is because they are searching for meaning in something that was never meant to satisfy them.”
And, yes. I especially love Ecclesiastes because of the eye-opening meaningless of all the world has to offer.
After finding this( by digging deeper into the word) I find it especially difficult to do anything anymore; everything is so mundane. My yearning to be with the Lord growing stronger every day.
Thank you so much for sharing this profound wisdom, God bless you.
I pray that those who struggle with contentment will find this article in Jesus name, amen.
Thank you once again for sharing.
The tough part is that contentment is relative. Although I don’t think I’ve done a good job of being content lately, in the eyes of most I’m probably extremely content. I’ve really been wanting a smart phone and an iPad lately, but the good thing I guess is that I’m at least content enough that I wouldn’t make a foolish decision and buy something that I didn’t have the money for.
Resting in the Lord is always the best place though and chasing after Him daily puts me at peace.
Wow, this is a great post. The verses hit you right in the chest. Although I am a financial counselor who helps clients based on biblical principles, I sometimes forget that contentment is a core value to any financial plan.
Quite encouragement.May God bless you people .Am happy to know that contentment is only in Christ
Good list! The only I can think to add is Psalm 91, the complete psalm.
Dear bro
Praise the Lord
I m a servant of God. Ministering in the tribal belt of India.
I LOVE YOU SIR GOD BLESS YOU
Contentment is what I had longing for and goodness, I try to find out about the two words, it motivate me and keep me away from all things of these world. Happy to see more light on it here with different verses of the Bible.
This page went hand in hand with my sermon today!! I’ve lacked contentment since I can remember ! I want to have faith In Jesus Christ , I want to allow God’s will for my life! Today I feel something has been revealed to me.
How do you reconcile these teachings with advertisements about investments promising great riches, and advertisements about pot?! Are you Evangelicals?
Denis, the ads are not chosen by us, we use a family friendly ad network that sells the ad space for us. While we definitely put in blocks for certain things we find objectionable or immoral, sometimes things slip through the filters and we have to request they be blocked manually. I personally haven’t seen any of the ads you’re referencing, so I’m not able to get them blocked. I’ll keep looking, however. Feel free to email us with details about the ads if you see them again. God bless.
This message concerning came at the right time! I was reading something on finances from Robert Saunders, & the word ” Contentment” came coming to my thoughts. Today, I finally looked up some scriptures on contentment, & found this post from you Peter Anderson. Thank you for your message on contentment. It came at a time I needed it the most. Being a divorced father of 5, & attempting to get custody of 2 of my daughters is frustrating because they’re in a different state. However, I will learn how to be content in whatever situation I find myself in. Thank you once again Peter. God bless you!!!
Thank you so much for this! I want to be content in each and every situation, and you only get this true contentment by seeking Jesus! But you have to want a deep personal relationship in Him! Peter, I enjoyed reading this and I pray that God will richly bless you and all your family!
I liked it dear brother.
Thank you so much for this wonderful article. I learned lots of things and will share this to my family in our daily evening devotion. May God bless and protect us always! From PH. ?
And this time in the pandemic it could be quiet where we from to stress about not having enough but with all things God makes things possible and not to forget that we are truly living for him and he supplies all that we need it may not be with our flesh desires but all I Spirit needs is peace in the love of God and then you look around and realize what’s the greatest thing on earth and that’s our livelihood
Thanks.
so much helpful.
I enjoyed reading this and going through the scripture references. It has been quite refreshing and enlightening. Thank you sir!
Hi Peter Anderson, compliments of the season. It was because He was born that made His death possible. I came across your website this morning and I am lifted up in the spirit. May the Lord continue to give you insight into His word for you to continue to be a blessing to Christians & the world in general. My regards to your family and Christians around you.
Peter Anderson, I loved your writing and verses. Many Christians, because they don’t read Hebrew are unaware of God’s only name, Elohym (Elohim), that was given in Genesis 1:1 In beginning Elohym created the heavens and the earth. Elohym did 30 actions in Chapter 1 of Genesis. If you can read basic English Elohym is the name of the individual and subject of the sentence. God is a common noun, not a name, however Elohym is a name. Read Genesis 1:27 and analyze that verse on your own and instead of God insert Elohym. Hopefully, this will expand your knowledge of Elohym.
Hi Peter,
Thank you for this wonderful expose on Godly contentment.
Here’s another verse regarding contentment:
II Corinthians 9:6-8: ” ..He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully…God loves a cheerful giver…God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
The word “sufficiency” is the same word translated “contentment” in Philippians 4:11 and I Timothy 6:6-8. These are the only four occurances in the New Testament of this word (Greek autarkeia) and all four are in the context of having the proper attitude toward money. The message in these verses is to have complete trust in our Heavenly Father to provide for us, not to put our trust in money, thereby having complete sufficiency in Christ, and great contentment.
With gratitude,
Robert Young
It a blessing to read about your message on being content as Christian.
It answers my quest for more knowledge about what Jesus said and taught about contentment as a child of God.
Yours in Christ,
Charles Ato Anderson.
Ghana.