Contentment By Dotun Akinsulire

Contentment By Dotun Akinsulire 

Before the CALA investment scheme hit troubled waters, someone had tried to get me to subscribe. I told the person I don’t do ponzi. She wouldn’t let me be. She inundated me with several testimonials of those who had cashed out big time, but I wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, she wondered why I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to make some cool easy cash. It is called contentment.

Earnings of ponzi investments are illegitimate. Ponzi scheme promoters use money deposited by early investors to pay the first ‘dividend’. Investors feel comfortable and decide to invest more. Investors often encourage their family and friends to join. 

Eventually all Ponzi schemes fall apart. They collapse when the promoter spends the money too quickly or the pool of investors dries up. Ponzi fuels people’s greed, and negates the value of contentment. My contentment level was higher than the ‘juicy’ benefits of a “too good to be true” investment scheme.

Paul glowingly writes, from prison, about the generosity of the Philippians in sending him a financial gift. He expresses his heartfelt gratitude, but at the same time he pointed out that God had been meeting his needs. Though he was in a difficult situation, he could still do without their gift because God was his sufficiency. 

He did truly appreciate their charitable gestures; however, he would have been well off even without their gift, because he had learnt contentment by depending on God’s sufficiency alone. “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” (Phil 4:11, NLT)

Paul’s life as a lesson in contentment is worthy of emulation in today’s world where greed rules. We want to have more and become more. There’s no end to what we want to acquire or possess.  We want to impress. The “I better pass my neighbour” syndrome sets us on edge in the rat race. We have to prove that we’ve got better taste, things, furniture, clothing, cars, and houses than the neighbour next door. 

We sweat to measure up to the facade we are trying to create; to keep up the impression. We get into debt to live just a bit better than we can afford. Going down this path, some lose their footing in faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after (1 Tim 6:10). 

What exactly is contentment? Contentment does not mean being mediocre or complacent. Of course, as Christians we can seek to improve ourselves and circumstances by exposing ourselves to the required interventions for such upgrade—however not at the expense of our hearts getting sunk in the craze for materialism. Socrates said, “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” 

As God blesses us, we can thankfully enjoy the good things He brings into our lives. Contentment is being self-sufficient from God’s sufficiency. It means you are at peace with yourself in spite of your situation, acknowledging that God is in control of your situation.  

When you are contented, you are not anxious or resentful at your present circumstance; you are thankful for what you have and your focus is on living your life to please God. Godliness with contentment is itself great wealth, says Paul (1Tim 6:6).