Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs characterized contentment as a “rare jewel.” It is precious and scarce. Unlike commodities, contentment is not precious because of its scarcity; scarcity doesn’t give contentment value. If we were to commodify contentment, we might say that there is plenty of it out there; or, at least, there is great potential “to grow” plenty of it. Contentment is only scarce because we haven’t taken the time and discipline to cultivate it in our hearts. Growing contentment is difficult, and it remains rare because of sloth. However, the discipline of contentment is vital to accomplishing our mission.
Every now and again Solomon exhorts his son in Proverbs not to covet or be envious of the wicked. Rather he is to be content. The specific exhortations pop up here and there, but contentment is the undercurrent for all the commands to walk the path of wisdom and avoid the path of folly.
Contentment is the self-mastery of one’s appetites, taming them so that there is joyful satisfaction no matter the circumstances. You master your heart’s appetites so that your circumstances don’t master your heart’s affections. Neither good nor bad circumstances master your affections. Your deepest loyalties that tell you who you are, your purpose, and your future control your attitudes and actions no matter if times are good or bad. Whether you mourn or laugh, whether you are rich or poor, your soul is quietly satisfied because you have certainties that are surer than all these fleeting realities. Contentment is happy to stay within the boundaries of God’s law and providence, humbly giving thanks for how he made me, what he has given me, the promises for the future, and what he has told me I may and may not do.
Covetousness is contentment’s enemy, resenting God’s boundaries of law and providence, always looking and grasping for that which does not rightfully belong to me or that which God in his providence has refused to give to me. I am agitated that God created me male or female, put me in this family, has not given me this amount of money, has given me this body type, has not given me that person to be my spouse, or … well, you fill in the blank. I have idolized this part of creation (Eph 5.5; Col 3.5), believing that if I could only have this, then my life would be complete. My life is found in the creation and not the Creator.
We have legitimate God-given desires for more. God created us hungry, so we have an appetite for food. God created us to be fruitful and multiply, so he has given us a desire to couple up with all the sexual desires involved in that relationship. God has created us for dominion, so we have a desire for glory. Covetousness latches on to those desires and perverts them, wanting to grasp for all of those things outside of the boundaries God has established. Contentment gives thanks for those boundaries and happily lives within them.
You can still be aggressive in your dominion without being covetous. Indeed, you must be. That is your calling. What distinguishes covetousness from contentment is whether or not what you are pursuing is lawful and whether or not you can pursue it with enjoyment that is not distracted or dampened by all that you don’t have. Can you be patient, or do you become irritated and overly restless because you don’t have something? Are you thankful for what you have right now? Can you relax and laugh at the end of the day, or are you always fidgety and irritated? Can you rest?
Contentment is not a luxury to be enjoyed by the super spiritual. Contentment is vital to your mission. If you have not mastered your appetites with contentment, then circumstances and others will use your appetites to control you, taking you off mission. If you are focused on seducing another person’s spouse, then you are not being a good steward of the family God has given you. If you are homed in on the possessions of others, you are not focused on what God has put in your hand. Lack of contentment is distraction from your mission. If you are not content, that means you are neglecting your responsibilities somewhere.
Contentment must be cultivated for you to be effective in the callings God has given you. Cultivating contentment involves many particulars about your situation that you will have to work out. Not even Solomon worked out every detail for his son. He gave him the principles and expected him to meditate on them and work them out. That is part of the discipline. That which is vital to contentment’s cultivation is humble gratitude. Gratitude focuses you on what God has given you instead of what he hasn’t. The grateful man acknowledges his neediness, but he also respects the boundaries placed on him by his Grace. Whether he feels like it or not, he disciplines himself to say, “Thank you,” especially when his heart is drawing him to covetous discontentment.
Contentment may indeed be a “rare jewel,” but it is one that God has called you to discover and treasure.
