8 Characteristics Incompatible with Christian Contentment

We may say we are fully content with God and that he is all we need, but we all wrestle with certain sinful attitudes and behaviors that communicate otherwise. They are characteristics incompatible with fulfillment in God, but there is hope. The more we grow in Christian contentment, the more these tendencies will lose their grip on us. To summarize Jeremiah Burroughs, here are eight things godly contentment opposes in our lives.

1. Murmuring and Complaining

When we see the people of God in the Old Testament complaining as they wander in the wilderness, it is because they are not content with God’s leadership. They have not found him to be enough and think they need more than he has provided to be satisfied. Christian contentment finds its complete satisfaction in God himself and is not compatible with murmuring and complaining.

2. Worry and Fret

Christian contentment and disordered anxiety are contradictory to each other. Anxiety is the result of not trusting the One who is in sovereign control of our lives. As Christians, we serve a God who has bought us with his blood and holds the whole world in his hands. He knows how to rescue the godly and bring them through the trials of this life to be with him forever. Christian contentment understands this and knows that any affliction allowed in their life by our sovereign God may appear to be dark clouds, but they are filled with deep mercy. This is why Scripture tells us to be anxious for nothing.

3. A Perplexed Spirit

We may be crushed but not perplexed. Whether providence has provided us with much or little, the believer does not need to run around confusedly. There is truth in the old cliché’, we do not need to know what tomorrow holds because we know who holds tomorrow. As we mature as Christians, it will become more and more evident how little we understand and can control our lives. But at the same time, we will trust more and more in the goodness of our heavenly Father.

4. Distraction from Obedience to God

For the unbeliever who lives for the pleasures of this world, when they fail, they will put no limit on what they are willing to do to restore them. The pleasures of the world are their chief end, and not even character and righteousness can stand in the way when they are removed. For the Christians, God is our reward. With Christian contentment, no earthly affliction can distract us from our calling to glorify God in obedience to his will. This truth will, at times, be tested, and we may feel the weight of it, but Christian contentment resists the lure of the world and causes us to persevere in obedience.

5. Heart Consuming Cares

Our first look at this topic taught us that Christian contentment does not mean we will not feel the weight of our trials. In light of this truth, our trials may produce legitimate grief and pain in our hearts, but Burroughs says, “They may enter the suburbs of the soul, but not into the private room reserved for Jesus.” For believers who have found contentment in God, hardships will not disenthrone him from our hearts.

6. Shrinking Discouragement

Christian contentment opposes despair. For the believer, there should never be a time when we believe there is no hope. God can always open the doors of heaven (2 Kings 7:2). In other words, just because we do not see a way out does not mean God’s hands are tied. There is no situation in the life of God’s child where he will fail to keep us. Even if we do not understand the affliction, he is doing greater things than we can ever imagine, and he will bring us home to the inheritance he has for us, which is imperishable and will never fade. He will bring us home to Himself, which is our true reward.

7. Searching for Sinful Solutions

Contentment in Christ is not opposed to looking for solutions to our problems, and when God provides a way out, we should take it. However, Christian contentment will reject sinful remedies to our problems because, in the end, they are not solutions. Biblical examples appear throughout Scripture. Abraham was promised to be the father of many nations, but he had no children. A lack of contentment with God and his timing drove him to take matters into his own hands with Hagar. The same could be said of Saul consulting the witch at Endor. Neither of these “solutions” solved the problems they faced. They only made them worse.

8. A Heart Rising in Rebellion Toward God

We have probably all heard someone say, “God is big enough to handle it when you get mad at him.” That is undoubtedly true, but that does not mean our anger is not sinful. Contentment in the wisdom, power, and guidance of Jesus Christ is incompatible with anger toward God. Being mad at God is a form of rebellion. It is our heart saying we know better what God should have done. Contentment stands in opposition to a rebellious heart.

None of us are perfect in our battle against these eight sins. Our propensity to fall is why we trust in the righteousness of Christ and not our own. His blood covers all our sinfulness, but at the same time, we should strive to grow in contentment through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we do, all the sinful behaviors and attitudes listed above will begin to lose their power in our lives.

-D. Eaton