The Way We Should Liveనమూనా

The Key to Contentment

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

In Philippians 4, Paul is talking about contentment. He has learned to be content with very little and to be content with plenty. He then says that the key to this contentment is not in him, but in Christ: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

The key to contentment is Christ’s transforming power. But this principle applies to all of life. “I can do all things.” Where do you struggle? Worry? Fear? Jealousy? Guilt? Anger?

Temper? Depression? Loneliness? Addiction? The power to change is not in you. It’s in Christ. Pray, “Lord, I cannot do this, but You can. Would You please change me? I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

When I was a young Christian at Rice University, learning to live in dependence on God, I heard a little saying that I wrote in the fly page of my Bible: “When I try, I fail. When I trust, I succeed.” That’s the heart of Paul in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”