Paul’s View of Contentment in Philippians 4

Philippians 4 has always struck me as a misunderstood chapter of the Bible. It’s likely that Phil 4:13 is the verse that stands out in your mind. After all, it’s emblazoned on everything from the home team’s high school football banners to athlete’s eye black to countless Instagram profiles. It’s used to encourage everyone from test-takers to Olympic athletes that, through Jesus, they can do all things.

But Philippians 4 has always been about contentment. In fact, Phil 4:13, the oft-quoted verse used to inspire a victor’s mindset, was actually Paul’s admission that he had learned how to be content in less-than-favorable circumstances. Paul wasn’t saying that, through Jesus, He could overcome any obstacle. He was saying that, through Jesus, he had learned how to be ok with plenty or with little, with victory or with a setback.

Contentment is More than Always Being Happy with what You Have

Lest we think that story ends there, Paul continued on: “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.” Paul then outlined how the church at Philippi had been a financial blessing in his ministry. In fact, they were the first church ever to support him and were willing to help him when no one else would. Now, Paul took the opportunity to thank them for a new financial gift they had sent to him that had left him “amply supplied” (4:18)

The message of Philippians 4 is far more nuanced than we like to make it. Yes, learning to be content in less than ideal circumstances is a good thing. We will certainly be in many situations that are less than ideal. Those moments should not lead us to despair. They are opportunities to experience Jesus in ways that we wouldn’t have otherwise. They teach us to be dependent on Him in transformative, sometimes life-changing ways.

But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t hope for and strive for things to be better. In Paul’s financial need, while seeking contentment, he also asked the church at Philippi for help. It seems that he had arrived at a place spiritually where he would have been fine had they not been able or chose not to assist him. We may never know. The reality is that they chose to assist Paul which left him in a place where his needs were provided “amply.”

Contentment isn’t About Settling

Striving for contentment is honorable and good. But we should not allow striving for contentment to prevent us from seeking to better our situation through either work or asking for help.

Help doesn’t necessarily equate with finances, either. I’m terrible about asking for any form of help. Many of my friends have expressed a similar struggle. Yet we’re often met with obstacles that we struggle to overcome on our own. Try as we may, we can’t escape the fact that God designed us to be interdependent. When we face obstacles that we can’t overcome on our own, or at a minimum would be much less inconvenient if we had the assistance of others, it seems that God is inviting us to participate in something bigger than ourselves by asking for others’ help.

Stubbornly refusing this invitation creates personal and relational harm. It increases relational isolationism which corresponds with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and illness. It prevents others from exercising the gifts that God has given them and from providing a physical representation of their friendship and love for you.

If you’re facing an obstacle today, be it significant or fairly mundane, ask for help. Watch how God uses that simple act to begin a transformative work in and around you.

Contentment is good. Transformation is a sight to behold.