Happiness in Contentment
by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
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A survey came out recently from the United States that 46% of Americans feel that they are happy, 37% of Indians feel they are happy, and 36% of the English feel they are happy but only 9% of Chinese feel they are happy. In other words, out of 10 people, 9 Chinese feel that they are unhappy. Are Chinese really becoming more and more unhappy? There are 5 reasons that make it difficult for Chinese to be happy:
1. The Chinese have an extremely strong sense of responsibility such that we find it hard to be happy
2. The Chinese’ tradition of lack of concern for humanity
3. The Chinese society’s moral bankruptcy
4. Having health is the greatest happiness; but now many Chinese have lost their health
5. Poor psychological health
The Chinese said: Learn to be content and you’ll find happiness. When we know contentment, we will have a healthier psyche and we will be much happier. Today, I would like to discuss with you what happiness in contentment means. What does contentment in the Bible mean?
I. Contentment is Form of Blessing
In China’s Ching Dynasty, a poet wrote about contentment:
“Consider the suffering of illness, then health becomes a blessing.
Consider sorrow, and peace becomes a blessing.
Consider the suffering of death, being alive becomes a blessing.
No need for high positions and big pay, no need to heap up treasures, three meals a day is blessing
I advise everyone, stop being discontented.”
Our problem is that we always compare ourselves with those who have more; and so, we feel discontented – because he has and I don’t have. American economist Charles Munger said, “If you want to be happy, the easiest way is to compare yourself with those who are poorer than yourself, who live in smaller houses than yours, who drive older cars than yours, and you will feel much happier.” The problem is, we do just the opposite – we ask `Why does he have while I don’t?’ How can we be happy that way!
In Africa, there is a burial plot called “The Burial Ground of Happiness”. The epitaphs there remind us to live a happy life. There, mottos on happiness like the following are written on the epitaphs:
“In this world, what matters is not what you have accomplished, neither your success nor failure, do not make yourself miserable.”
“Do not always regard your lack, as long as you are happy, then you lack nothing.”
“A person who creates his own troubles is one of life’s greatest pain, why make yourself suffer?”
“Do good! Help others sincerely, then you will find happiness. When you live in happiness, your life will become beautiful.”
These words on the epitaphs are very meaningful. It is truly a blessing to be able to find happiness in contentment.
Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” A person who belongs to the Lord is a recipient of God’s blessings. The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it – this is the blessing of contentment. Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack.” Verse 4, “…my cup overflows…” In Chinese, the word overflow is very meaningful. It speaks of being full, meaning having enough and being contented; and then, it also means to overflow. Being full is for oneself, while the overflow is for others. A person who belongs to the Lord is a person who has a shepherd, not only is he satisfied, he is also able to bless others. Is the Lord your shepherd? How can you find contentment if you do not have the Lord?
II. Contentment is a Form of Thanksgiving
Contemporary science professor, Dr. Stephen Hawking, is confined to a wheelchair and needs people to take care of him all his life. Once, after he spoke at a Beijing Science Conference, a journalist asked him, “Your illness confines you to a wheelchair all your life, doesn’t it make you feel self-pity?” Dr. Hawkins replied, “I can still move my fingers, I can still think with my brain, I still have my dreams, I have love and I have loved ones and friends, and the most important thing is: I have a grateful heart.” Everyone in the auditorium stood up and gave him a standing ovation. At that moment, everyone understood, a grateful person is the greatest dynamic behind success. We are unhappy because we do not know how to give thanks, because ungratefulness makes us discontented.
Psalm 103:1-5 “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Twice, the psalmist told his own heart: praise the Lord! Then, he mentioned four things for which he gave thanks:
1. The Blessing of Forgiveness. God forgives all our sins. This is our greatest blessing. We commit a lot of sins in a lifetime, but God forgives them all. Are you grateful?
2. The Blessing of Healing. While we live in this world, we all get sick at times. But God heals our illnesses, great or small.
3. The Blessing of Salvation. In our 70-80 years of life in this world, we often encounter dangers, the Lord rescues us from the danger of death. Will you not be grateful?
4. The Blessing of Contentment. The Lord satisfies our desires with good things. A person who knows the Lord will become more and more contented, because the Lord will satisfy him with his blessings. Do you know the Lord? A person who knows the Lord will find contentment, not only in the material sense, but spiritually and emotionally too. Material things can never truly satisfy us, but God gives us contentment and gratitude in our hearts, such that, even if we only have food and clothing, we are still contented, because contentment is a form of thanksgiving.
III. Contentment is a Form of Great Gain
1Tim 6:6-8 “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” The Holy Spirit moved Paul to remind us that we brought nothing into this world, and when we leave this earth, we cannot take anything with us. We will have to let go of everything, no matter how much or how little we possess. The Chinese have a beautiful tradition, we know how to leave inheritance for our next generation. There is nothing wrong with this, for in 2Cor 12:14 it says “…children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.” Chinese work hard to earn money, because we want to lay away a lot for our children. We think even though we cannot take it with us, we can leave them behind for our children.
It is good to leave wealth to our children, but it is more important to leave life to our children. Often we see how when parents die, their children begin to fight over their wealth. Some even go to court and sue each other. Such things happen all over the world. The more money you leave behind, the more problems it creates. There is a very rich man in Taiwan. When he died, his children sued each other in court for his money. This is not what parents desire. It is good to leave inheritances for our children, but if they have money but not life, the money will only harm them. We must leave life to our children. What is life? Godliness and contentment is great gain. We must leave them godliness and contentment.
What is godliness? The root word of godliness is “god”. God is the only source of true godliness. There can only be godliness if we have God. We must pass on godly lives to our children. When we leave this world, there are two things we must ascertain, that is:
1. We know God, know Jesus. The Bible says: This is eternal life – to know the only true God, Jesus Christ. We must ascertain that we have eternal life. We must know that heaven is our home. In the Bible, we see that God has prepared three homes for us: the first is our earthly home. This is our refuge. Whatever we encounter in life, when we go home, we feel a sense of security. The second is our spiritual home. The church is the household of the living God. In this home, we are like one family, loving each other. This is our spiritual home. The third home is our eternal dwelling place. The Bible describes this as a beautiful home. We must make sure that heaven is our home. But you must become a child of God in order for heaven to become your home.
2. We must pass on godly lives and contentment. When we do, not only will we be in heaven, our children will also be able to enjoy heaven with us. This, then, is true gain.