What’s so great about contentment?
Jeremiah Burroughs lists 10 reasons why contentment is a thing of excellence, in Chapter 7 of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.
The first five are below. The last five are here.
1. Being content is one way we worship God.
It honors God when we see him as enough for us. Work to please God, but also work to be pleased by God.
2. Contentment is a grace you can exercise.
Use it to strengthen you to endure hardships. Use it find beauty all around you. Use it to show others how to live quietly, even amidst afflictions.
3. You receive more mercy when you’re content.
Throwing temper tantrums won’t get us what we want. A prisoner doesn’t get rid of his chains by thrashing about and trying to tear them off, but by quietly giving himself up to someone who can take them off. Our strength comes in stillness, when God can say, “Now you shall have comfort; now I will give you the mercy.”
4. The Lord uses the contented to carry out his work.
Steady hearts are freer to move in service for God, whereas the disturbed lack the spirit needed for many tasks.
5. Contentment keeps us away from many temptations.
“The Devil loves to fish in troubled waters.” He finds the easiest converts among the discontent. But God dwells in peaceable and quiet spirits. “Oh, if you would free yourselves from temptations, labor for contentment.”
These five reasons alone are enough to encourage us to truly seek our contentment in God. But five more reasons are still ahead...find them here.
