Jesus First: Seven Practices to Put Your Life Back in Orderნიმუში

Day 8: The Practice of Contentment

Over the past days, we’ve sat with Paul in his Roman house-prison, listening in on his hard-won wisdom to the Philippian church. Amid his beautiful words, we’ve uncovered deeply counter-cultural practices that help us place Jesus first in the cluttered reality of our everyday lives.

Today, we close with a practice that weaves them all together: contentment.

Ours is a culture engineered to make you feel like you aren’t enough and don’t have enough. Entire industries run on this discontentment. Ads and algorithms subtly sow the lie that your life would finally be complete if you just bought the thing, achieved the dream, or upgraded your image.

But Paul, writing from grimy confinement, offers a radical counter-vision: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (NIV verse 11). This was a man who had walked through the highest highs and lowest lows. And through it all, he cultivated what many spend their lives chasing: a soul anchored in Christ, not his circumstances.

Notice Paul’s words: “I have learned.” Contentment didn’t come naturally — even for him. It was forged carefully through faith, perspective, and perseverance. Paul didn’t deny his needs, but he intentionally refused to let them define his joy.

How did he achieve this? Through union with Christ: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (NIV verse 13). Life hadn’t stopped hurting, but Jesus had proved strong enough to hold him in it. For Paul, as He can be for us, Jesus became the wellspring of resilience, the antidote to comparison, and the calm in the chaos: everything he needed.

Contentment, then, is both posture and practice. It’s shaped as we mindfully celebrate what God has already given. It’s strengthened as we resist the world’s false promises and trust that Christ is enough. Like the other habits we’ve explored, it forms the rhythm of a “Jesus first” life.

And here’s the roundabout wonder of it all: as you live this way — resisting the culture, prioritising Jesus — more contentment begins to grow quietly in its shadow. You stop measuring your worth by what you’ve achieved. You start to see that joy doesn’t come from grasping, but from receiving. You discover the whole point of it all.

So here’s your invitation today: practice contentment in Christ. Let it become your rhythm. Because when you put Jesus first, you’ll discover you have everything you need.

Practice prompt: Take five quiet minutes today to write down:

● 3 things you’re grateful for

● 1 way Jesus has been enough for you

● 1 area where you feel discontent

Ask Jesus to help you trust Him in that space — and to grow contentment in you, right where you are.

Then, as a final act of this journey, write a one-sentence commitment that sums up your desire to live a Jesus first life — and return to it whenever you forget what matters most.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for the holy wisdom embedded in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Over these next weeks, help me to put what I have read into practice, building a contented life where you are first and foremost, in everything, forever. Amen.