When Howard Hughes died in 1976, the value of his estate was estimated to be over 2.5 billion. Surely he was content, right? Don’t bet the farm. Mysophobia (fear of germs) consumed the later years of his life. He wouldn’t pick up anything with his bare hands, and if he noticed dust, stains, or any foreign matter on another person’s clothing, he demanded it be removed.
He owned innumerable businesses and vast amounts of land, and he died of kidney failure. Is it odd to put those two statements together in one sentence? Not at all. Suppose we doubled the number of his businesses, tripled the amount of land he owned, and quadrupled his net worth. Kidney failure was still his ultimate end.
Commandment #10 provides a path to living a contented life: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Deuteronomy 5:21)
In short, learn to live contentedly with what you have.
In Luke 12, Jesus shares a parable about a rich farmer who enjoyed productive year after productive year. Rather than selling his crops, he decided to build bigger barns to store all he owned. But God appears to the man and says, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20)
No one truly owns anything. Everything we own eventually ends up in someone else’s hands. The opposing viewpoint is that at least we had the opportunity of enjoying something while we lived.
This is a valid viewpoint. I enjoy playing disc golf. That means I need discs. So I own discs. Someone else will own them when I pass from this life. What I must guard against is thinking I must own as many discs as I possibly can. I need to be content with five or so. Five thousands discs would most likely be too many.
Wise King Solomon wrote the following: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
Listen to Alistair Begg’s words: “If we are to say no to covetousness. we must learn to say yes to contentment…Much of our discontentment may be traced to expectations that are essentially selfish and more often than not completely unrealistic.”
What is essential in living a life of perfect contentedness? It’s possessing the greatest treasure of all—a relationship with Christ. When we have a relationship with Christ, we literally and forever possess everything we would ever need to possess.
Pay attention to this truth: No Believer would ever exchange his salvation for a million dollars, not even a billion dollars. It’s because the Believer understands ultimate contentment is found in a relationship with Christ.
Until Constantine, the Roman emperors were militant about eliminating Christianity by killing all Christians. By the year 325 AD, thousands upon thousands of Christians were murdered using the most atrocious methods. These martyrs could have escaped death by simply renouncing Christ. Deny Christ and go free. Not one of them did.
According to tradition, the Apostle Paul was beheaded in Rome around 64 AD as a result of Nero’s persecution of Christians. Like the other martyrs, Paul had a path to freedom and life. But he wouldn’t renounce Christ.
Instead, listen to his words in a letter to the church of Philippi: “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
The secret to Paul’s contentedness? His relationship with Christ. If you don’t know Christ, I highly recommend you get to know him. The easy yoke of contentedness can then be yours.