3 Misunderstandings of Christian Contentment

As Jeremiah Burroughs puts it, Christian contentment is a rare jewel. Every believer should strive to possess it, but often, we misunderstand what it is and expect it to do things it will never do. To summarize Burroughs, here are three things Christian contentment does not include.

Firstly, Christian contentment does not mean we will not feel the weight of our afflictions. The crosses we must bear, whether persecution, illnesses, or any other trial, will cause our hearts to ache. As Peter indicates, being “grieved by various trials” is part of the Christian life (1 Peter 1:6-7). When you feel the pain of suffering, it does not mean you lack contentment in God. On the contrary, if we could not feel our afflictions, contentment would not be needed.

Secondly, contentment, which is submission to God’s sovereign will in hardship, is not in opposition to making our complaint known to Him or fellow Christians. However, when we make our lament, we must make it with humility. We show deference to God instead of being rebellious in heart and will. A godly complaint or lament will acknowledge the affliction is upon us and let God and other believers know in order to seek relief from the God of all comfort.

Finally, Christian contentment does not contradict seeking to end the affliction in a lawful way. Some view contentment as sitting in complete passivity to the trial to such a degree that any will or striving to end the problem is a sign of discontentment. This interpretation does not align with a proper understanding of contentment or the scriptures. To put it succinctly, if God provides a way out, take it. We should seek remedies to our problems, but they must be in accordance with God’s word. An example of an improper way of escape would be Jacob deceiving his father to get the birthright the Lord had already said he would receive.

Godliness with contentment is great gain, but we must not misinterpret what it is to such a degree that we turn this wonderful doctrine into something wretched. Godly contentment is not incompatible with feeling the pain of affliction, making our complaints known to God, or seeking lawful ways of escape.

In a future post, we will review several things Christian contentment is incompatible with, or to put it another way, the attitudes and behaviors Christian contentment should remove from our lives.

-D. Eaton