ESOCS Devotional 29 October 2025 – Contentment in all Circumstances
MEMORY VERSE: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12-13NIV
TEXT: PHILIPPIANS 4:11-END
Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
14 Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. 15 Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.
23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with]you all. Amen.
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Paul had the credibility to say, “I have learned in all things to be content”. We can be content, because he suffered so much. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, he wrote: “With far greater labours, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, often near death. Five times I received…forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”
In 1 Timothy 6:8, Paul wrote that we should be content with food, clothing, and shelter. But Paul went without these. He was content with less than what he told us we needed to be content! People who suffer this much but respond this way have learned how to be content. Excluding Christ Himself, Paul was the master of contentment.
Here are four things we can learn from him about what contentment is and is not. Firstly, contentment is learned (vv. 11-12). Two verses earlier, Paul wrote, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9). We are to follow Paul’s example and practice what he did. Secondly, contentment is a choice versus a feeling. We choose whether to love people by our actions, which is why we can love our enemies, as Matthew 5:44 commands. Contentment is like love; we think it is a feeling that comes and goes based on our experiences. But the Bible also presents contentment as a choice. We can choose to be content regardless of what we are experiencing.
Thirdly, contentment is not the absence of trials (1 Peter 4:12). “Because I know trials are part of the Christian life, how can I learn to be content in this situation?” Fourthly, contentment is not the same as happiness. Think of Paul singing hymns in prison. He was content, not because of his experiences, but despite them. We must learn to be content even in adversity.
CHALLENGES
- Are you learning contentment in your circumstances?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, teach me to be content in all circumstances to your glory. Amen.
FURTHER READING: 1 Chronicles 2:31-55; 3:1-10; Colossians 1:1-12
ESOCS Devotional 29 October 2025
