The book of Acts tells us what happened to the apostles after Jesus’s death and resurrection. The second half focuses on Paul, a Jew who persecuted Christians and then became one himself. He traveled around the Roman empire, telling Gentiles, people who were not born Jewish, about Jesus Christ. The Jews didn’t like it, and the Romans didn’t, either. He was beaten, spit on, stoned almost to death, shipwrecked, and eventually killed because he followed Jesus. He summarizes his hardships in his second letter to the Corinthian church.
About six years after Paul wrote the second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote a letter to the church at Philippi, while in prison. A few years after that, he would be killed for his faith. He had seen a lot in his life. He knew what it meant to suffer. But as many people do when death is close, he focused on what was most important, and most on his mind, when he wrote to the Philippian church.
“I have learned to be content.”
He is saying this specifically in relation to money. He wants the church to know he is grateful for the money they sent. Prisoners only ate if someone paid for their food; the Roman government was not obligated to treat its prisoners well – but he isn’t demanding anything from the church. He is content, with much or with little, and he tells them he has learned the secret:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
This verse speaks specifically about contentment. “I can be content in any situation because Christ gives me strength.” It’s not a scenario of gritting your teeth and pushing through the hardship. The key is to focus on Christ. He has already given us forgiveness for sin; he won’t abandon us in the everyday situations of life. It is not our strength but his that will give us that contentment, which is the very opposite of a comparison mindset.
Pray: Dear God, help me to be content in every situation. Help me to rely on your strength, which is enough to create and sustain the world, and on your love, which never fails. Amen.