Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philippians 4:11 · , KJV
Paul lets us in on something personal: I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Learned — not inherited, not stumbled into. Contentment was a curriculum.
That is hopeful for the rest of us. If contentment can be learned, discontent is not a life sentence. The classroom is ordinary circumstance — plenty and scarcity both — with Christ as the strength in either.
Today is one more lesson. Whatever state this day brings, practise the sentence: I can be content here, because he is here.
