Philippians - Week 9 - Day 5

READ 

Philippians 4:12-13 

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 

Paul now explains how he was enabled to be content. Likely he had come from a wealthy Jewish family and lost it all when he turned to Jesus as the true Messiah. Verse 13 is often misused by Christians. It does not promise you can do anything; it promises God can enable you to be content with your circumstances. Paul knew what it was like to live on nothing or with everything. He was able to be content in every situation because Christ gave him the strength to do so.  

REFLECT 

Are you in the midst of difficult circumstances now and especially need these words God inspired Paul to write in the Scriptures? 

RESPOND 

Read 1 Timothy 6:5-8 to see something else Paul wrote about contentment. Talk to your disciple about the importance of being content.