Bible verses about contentment

Paul borrowed a Stoic word

Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learnt in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learnt the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.Philippians 4:11-12 · World English Bible

The word Paul uses for content is autarkes (842), and it occurs only here in the New Testament. It means self-sufficient. The commentaries point out where it came from: Ellicott calls self-sufficiency “the especial characteristic claimed by the Stoics for the ideal wise man”, and the Pulpit Commentary says the word is “of frequent occurrence in Stoical treatises”. Paul takes the philosophers’ word and then, two verses later, says where his sufficiency comes from: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That verse has its own page, which reads it in this context.

He also says he learnt it. Contentment is described here as something acquired, in hunger as well as in plenty, not as a temperament he happened to have.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.2 Corinthians 9:8 · World English Bible

The noun, autarkeia (841), occurs twice. Here both translations call it all sufficiency, and God supplies it. The other place is 1 Timothy 6:6, below, where both call it contentment. One word, two English renderings, and the Pulpit Commentary’s summary of the difference from the Stoics: Paul is self-sufficient in relation to other people, but his sufficiency comes from God.

“Content” and “sufficient” are one verb

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that.1 Timothy 6:6-8 · World English Bible

Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”Luke 3:14 · World English Bible

He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.2 Corinthians 12:9 · World English Bible

Behind be content in 1 Timothy 6:8 and Luke 3:14, and behind my grace is sufficient, is a single verb, arkeo (714), which means to be enough. It occurs eight times in the New Testament, and the King James renders it content in some places and sufficient or suffice in others. So the answer Paul gets when his prayer is refused, on our page about 2 Corinthians 12:9, uses the same word as the instruction to be content with food and clothing. Both say: this is enough.

Luke 3:14 is worth reading whole. John the Baptist tells soldiers to be content with their wages in the same breath as telling them not to extort or accuse anyone falsely. The contentment is about not taking what isn’t theirs.

Five negatives in one promise

Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”Hebrews 13:5 · World English Bible

Hebrews 13:5 uses arkeo again for content, and then gives a reason. The promise at the end is emphatic in Greek in a way neither English translation can carry: ou mē … oud’ ou mē, five negative words in a short sentence (interlinear). Matthew Henry counts them as “no less than five negatives put together”, and Benson quotes Doddridge’s attempt to render them: I will not, I will not leave thee; I will never, never, never forsake thee (commentaries). The contentment rests on that.

A handful with quietness

Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labour and chasing after wind.Ecclesiastes 4:6 · World English Bible

The Hebrew picture is sharper than either translation. The first half is the fullness of one kaph, a palm; the second is the fullness of chophnayim, a word used only in the dual and glossed as fists (interlinear). One open hand, against two clenched ones.

Better is little, with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble.Proverbs 15:16 · World English Bible

Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.Proverbs 30:8-9 · World English Bible

The prayer in Proverbs 30 asks for neither extreme, and gives a reason for each: too much and you forget God, too little and you steal. It is a prayer that asks for less.

A weaned child

Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.Psalms 131:2 · World English Bible

The picture rather than the rule. The usual reading is that a weaned child no longer comes to its mother for milk, and can lie quietly in her arms instead. The Pulpit Commentary puts the contrast plainly: “The weaned child is quiet and content; the suckling always impatient and restless” (commentaries).

The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.Psalms 16:5-6 · World English Bible

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.Psalms 23:1 · World English Bible

Psalm 23:1’s I shall not want meant I shall lack nothing in 1611, which is how the modern rendering puts it. It is a statement of enough, not a vow to stop wanting things. Our page on Psalm 23 has the rest of the psalm.

What this page is not

It is a set of passages with their context, not counsel. Contentment in these passages is about having enough and not grasping for more. None of them tells anyone to put up with being wronged. If the worry is money itself, our page on money covers it, and if it is watching what other people have, our page on jealousy and envy is the closer fit.