Php. 4:11b ... "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."
The breeding ground of sin is discontent with one's situation in relation to worldly goods and also to one's place in society. This is not to say that such discontent MUST lead one into sin, but only that it gives sin an opportunity to enter the person's life. There is no sin in being discontented with poverty, for it may serve as the motivation to work one's way out of its misery and humiliation. But there is sin in being discontented with one's possessions to the point that the desire for greater becomes insatiable and takes control of the person's life. In ancient Israel King Ahab owned abundant and highly favored lands, but he was dissatisfied. He coveted the small tract owned by Naboth that adjoined the royal gardens. When the humble farmer refused to part with his ancestral inheritance, Ahab became deeply depressed. When his wicked and unscrupulous wife Jezebel seized the land, after having Naboth framed as a blasphemer and executed, Ahab was delighted to add the land to his possessions.
Often a person's lust is not so much for wealth as for a higher place in society. When this burning desire drives him to rise to the higher position where he can better serve others, it is worthy and good. For example, someone may not be content to spend his life in an assembly plant where his work benefits a limited number of people. So he invests ten or twelve years and a small fortune in training to become a physician so that during the rest of his life he can cure diseases, alleviate suffering, and even save the lives of hundreds of people. But more often there are those like Abimelech, son of Gideon, whose story is related in Judges 9. He was not content to be one of the seventy honored sons of one of Israel's most illustrious judges who had turned down the popular appeal to make him king. In his lust for power, Abimelech put all his brothers to death, except Jotham who was able to hide. Abimelech then persuaded the people of Shechem to proclaim him king. From this base he tried to extend his rule over the rest of the country, until he was killed in the attempt to seize the small town of Thebez.
We are warned in Jas. 1:14 that a person "is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." Temptation begins within a person, not from without, when he develops a desire for that which is not good for him to have. Controlling desire so that it leads in pathways that are good and towards ends that are righteous requires divine assistance. This is pointed out in Php. 4:5-6, "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." He knows our real needs and will guide us toward their fulfillment if we ask Him for them and then trust Him to respond. More commonly, however, people do not choose to look to God for help. Gathering together whatever resources are available at the moment, they seek the quickest and shortest track from their place of discontentment to the object of their desire. All too often this course passes through the field of sin, which gladly supplies its energy and encouragement to the venture.
Evaluating desire to distinguish what is legitimate from what is corrupt also requires God's help, which is available to all who seek it through prayer in faith, (Jas. 1:2-5). Our featured text does not forbid discontent and desire so much as it emphasizes our need to identify what it is that we desire, what it is that makes us discontented, and why these mental constructions have been formed within us. At the same time, it urges self-restraint as we attempt to satisfy our desires. As we undertake this introspective examination, it is important to remember the words of Jesus in Mat. 6:34, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
