CONTENTMENT; ONE VALUE TO WIN THEM ALL

January 16, 2024 EMMANUEL ADEBAYO AJIBOLA

If you were asked what is the most important value of a human, your answer would be in between honesty, love, respect, fairness, citizenship, responsibility which are the main or most popular human values.

But we will argue that there’s one particular value that stands above the rest. This particular value is called contentment.

What is contentment ? The dictionary definition states that contentment is the state of being happy and satisfied. I define it as being satisfied with one’s situation and pace in life while trusting in God to improve one’s life.

Contentment goes a long way in a human life, and people often say it is quite hard to be content. To a person, especially a Christian, achieving contentment is an uphill task. Contentment is not an Excitement type of happiness, it’s more of peaceful ease of mind. It means acceptance of one’s situation and position in life while having healthy aspirations.

Living within your means and being happy with who you are, where you are and what you have and having trust in your future to turn out great. Our society today is almost void of contentment. Everyone is in a self-imposed race to be the best, to have the fanciest cars, houses ,the best jobs, prettiest looking girlfriends or boyfriends. This leads to envy, greed, and hatred . We often forget the importance of the life we have and the fact that there will always be a bigger person with a better house, a finer car, a prettier wife or a more handsome husband, more money and most importantly that fingers will never be equal.

We view people with these material things as superiors disregarding our own achievements no matter how little or they may seem. The bible says In Philippians 4:11-13

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to be abundant. In every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

This Bible verse is trying to teach that It is only through Christ who gives and takes that can make you through progress. It is only by trusting in God’s absolutely we can make headway in life and it’s assured that we will make significant progress just by trusting in him to guide our steps.

A good example of contented person in the bible is Joseph. Joseph found himself in different terrible situations repeatedly but remained steadfast in belief in God for breakthrough. He showed contentment in each situation and eventually he reached a height even he never imagined.

The bible Also states in Ecclesiastes 5:10 that ‘HE who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income, this also is vanity‘.

This Bible verse teaches us that discontent will only lead to more discontent and no matter what you achieve with greed, envy and dishonesty, you will never be satisfied and you will never reach fulfillment. So what are the benefits of contentment ? Contentment gives peace of mind and happiness. A content heart is a fulfilled heart. Benjamin Franklin said

Contentment makes a poor man rich.

This sentence doesn’t mean a content person becomes suddenly rich rather he becomes free from self-oppression, he will be free of his insecurities giving him a sense of fulfillment. When you have peace of mind you can easily focus on a goal, you will be proud of your achievements in life. Being content gives you the ability to accept others as they are. This helps you to forge better relationships or connections with people.

Being content gives simplicity which allows you to take life a step at a time, you stop overburdening yourself with unnecessary comparisons giving you a stable mind set to pursue your goals to a positive end result. Being content allows you to be able to distinguish between your wants and needs. For example a young man meets a young lady who he very much likes and wants to have her as his life partner but the young lady is above his social ranking so he’s pressed to somehow increase the speed of his progress to keep the young lady at his side.

This situation will make him discontent with his level of progress and might lead him to chasing shadows by setting unrealistic goals. But a content heart will recognize that the young lady in question isn’t what he needs though she seems to be what he wants. In a bid to please partners some people have done unimaginable deeds that sometimes lead to a lifetime of regrets.