None of us like to be discontented. We like to eat when we are hungry (and even when we’re not!). We like to sleep when we are tired (and we’re grumpy when we can’t!). We’d rather be with friends than be lonely and rather be alone than with strangers. We’re not only unhappy when we are discontented; we are also vulnerable to temptation. Perhaps this is why the last of the ten commandments (“You shall not covet…anything that is your neighbor’s”) prohibits us from entertaining prolonged envy from discontented hearts (Ex 20:17).
The ten commandments are helpful to us at multiple levels. They 1) reveal God’s will and ways, 2) reflect something of God’s character, 3) expose the greatest struggles of the human heart, and 4) create a practical vision of what it looks like to love God with all of our heart (Mt 22:37-40). For example, the commandment to not covet reveals that God’s will is for us to find our satisfaction in Him and His gracious provision for our lives rather than coveting other people’s stuff. It also reflects God’s character of being completely sufficient, content, and at peace in Himself. He needs no external possession or circumstance outside Himself to be happy (Acts 17:25). In other words, coveting is contrary to God’s character and deters us from finding our satisfaction in Him. The tenth commandment exposes the struggle of the human heart to be content. The natural inclination of our sinful hearts is to allow the discontentment of greed to override gratitude for what God has already provided for us, and to allow envy (jealously despising a neighbor’s good fortune) to replace love (rejoicing in our neighbor’s blessing). But when we love God with all our heart, we will find our satisfaction and contentment in Him and rejoice in our neighbor’s gifts.
God commanded us to not covet to protect us from the vulnerability of living out of discontented hearts. Discontented hearts make us vulnerable to countless temptations. For example, the sins of lust, adultery, idolatry, gluttony, theft, murder, greed, envy, and jealousy flow out of discontented hearts, not to mention our struggle with discouragement which so often results from the discontentment of coveting a trouble-free life. So often our sins and discouragement result from attempting to remedy our discontented hearts with a change of circumstances [“If only I could have (or didn’t have) _____, then I’d be happy.”]. However, the key to contentment is not a change of circumstances, but a change of heart and perspective. The key to contentment is trusting in the sufficiency of God’s grace in our present situation so that we walk in the peace of knowing that His providence over our life is better and wiser than we can currently comprehend. In other words, a life of contentment is the result of hoping in God.
It would be tempting to simply end this discussion by saying, “beware of the danger of living out of a discontented heart and do everything you can to find your satisfaction in God and His good providence over your life”—and that’s very good advice! Yet we know that we will not always have a contented heart on this side of heaven and perhaps this too is from God. If “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose,” and if the good that God is producing is to conform us to Christlikeness (Rom 8:28-29), then perhaps God is working out good purposes in our life through His wise providence even in our struggle with discontented life in this fallen world. Perhaps there is a sanctifying power of discontentment for those who walk with God.
Consider how God uses both blessings and unrest in this present life to prepare us for heaven where we will be truly content and satisfied in God. He gives us enough earthly joys as a foretaste of heaven to help us anticipate the infinite and eternal joy of His presence. Yet He also allows enough hardship and dissatisfaction along the way to remind us that life on this earth will never do and to keep us longing for heaven. The value of not being fully satisfied with the things of this world is that it prevents us from spoiling our appetite for heaven—the only place where true satisfaction and contentment in God is perfected and uninterrupted for eternity.
This has helped me think differently about my hardships and moments of dissatisfaction. Every time I experience discontentment, it is a reminder that God is calling me to pursue my satisfaction in God, not the things of this world. It is a reminder to keep longing for heaven as my home where one day I will experience true satisfaction and endless joy in the presence of Jesus. The dissatisfying, mundane, and even painful moments of this life are meant to make us hunger for God and find our ultimate rest and joy in Him.
When we seek contentment in anything less than God, we run the risk of losing sight of heaven and ultimate satisfaction in Jesus. But when we are content because we are resting in God, we experience a foretaste of the joy of heaven, which will be fully realized when we see Him face to face.