To understand the value of contentment in our work, we need to know what contentment is, why we want contentment, and what keeps us from finding that contentment.
In the next few posts, we will look at contentment’s characteristics and benefits. And lastly, we will learn how we can be content at work.
So what is the value of contentment?
Value of Contentment: What is contentment?
According to the dictionary, contentment is a “state of happiness and satisfaction.”
Joy, delight, and fulfillment are three other words that describe contentment.
Besides feeling satisfied or happy in life, we may have delight or joy in our lives, like the birth of a child, whether it is our own, our grandchild, our niece or nephew’s child, or the child of a close friend.
And ultimately, we want to find fulfillment in our lives and in what we do.
Satisfaction isn’t necessarily just found in what we do. It can be found in what we eat, drink, and wear for clothes. or having warm comfortable housing that we can afford to live in.
Do we really need more than that? But why do we strive for more? More money, more food. Or the next best job or promotion at work?
Why do we want to value contentment?
When we value contentment or satisfaction in this life, we are yearning for something more.
We want to know that we have a purpose here on earth. And we look to fulfill that need. What we don’t realize is that we are really searching for God.
God created us in His image so that we would desire to be more like Him.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27 ESV
Now you are probably saying, Whoa–wait a minute! I didn’t say I wanted to be like God.
Who do you want to be like?
But think about it. How many of us see someone we like and say, I want to be like him or her? We follow sports figures, famous singers, or movie star icons. And we even want to be like fictitious characters – Super Man, Wonder Woman, or Batman.
And why is that? Because we have this innate desire to be someone special. Someone who is immortal and will live for eternity. That describes God, doesn’t it?
God put this desire in our hearts. He has told us how the world began in Genesis, and we know how it ends in Revelation. But we don’t know what is in between those two points.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV
that make us content?
We search for that fulfillment while we are here, but in reality, that contentment is found in the in-between when we trust God during the here and now. Contentment can be found in the present with God – in the here and now.
God desires a relationship with us (2 Peter 3:9). Which is part of God’s Will for us. He waits for us to come to Him to have that eternity we long for. The eternal life that waits for us in Heaven. That is when ultimate satisfaction is found.
What keeps us from finding contentment in our lives and our jobs?
Yet, we are weary in this life. And not satisfied. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, spoke about satisfaction and our lack of it.
All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ecclesiastes 1:8 ESV
One thing we are constantly looking for is money or how to get rich. This in itself is a vain pursuit. Solomon calls it unhappy business (Ecclesiastes 4:8 ESV).
Having tons of money will NOT buy us happiness or contentment. We hear story after story of a rich person strung out on drugs or committed suicide from a drug overdose. Why? To quote a line from a famous song, they “still haven’t found what (they are) looking for.”
The same is true with our jobs or contentment in getting a raise or the next promotion. Unless we are called to be in the company or business we are in, and we have our focus totally on God, then each raise or promotion will not satisfy us.
Where do we find true contentment?
Our true contentment comes from having a relationship with Jesus. When our whole focus is on Jesus, then we are filled with contentment. And we will never hunger or thirst for anything else.
Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
John 6:35 ESV
This true contentment allows us to have satisfaction at work now.
Take time today to inventory your contentedness. Is it based on the circumstances around you? What do you desire to have right now in your life? Or is your focus on the living God who gives us bread and water to live? With Him, we will never hunger or thirst again for contentment. It is possible to be content at work because God satisfies us.
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