“Raise Up A Barrier For Contentment”

Sunday, March 09, 2025

We live in a world full of discontented people, even though we are all surrounded by innumerable blessings. Why is that? Perhaps the answer lies in the definition the world gives for contentment--"a feeling of satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). That might feel like a solid definition, but the unfortunate reality is that feelings are fleeting, especially when they are based on temporary things like possessions that break and decay. Status that depends on the ever-changing whims of the majority, and situations that ebb and flow like the ocean's tides.

So, defining contentment in this way sets us up for failure if we are hoping for long-term contentment. We find our possessions decaying, our status dwindling, and our situation deteriorating, and so our feeling of satisfaction is bound to dissipate if our focus is on those things. We will thus strive after new possessions to replace the old ones. New experiences to regain relevance and status, and new opportunities that will help us maintain our current situation... all so we can regain that feeling of satisfaction.

All this pursuit of "contentment", which is really just feeling-chasing, ironically leaves us feeling discontent -- the very thing we wanted to avoid. 

I recently stumbled upon a much more promising definition of biblical contentment while reading and meditating on Hebrews 13.5, which says, "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" (ESV)

I found this in reference to the Greek word translated as "be content":

**ἀρκέω:** *verb* -- be content, be enough, suffice. Apparently a primary verb (but probably akin to [αἴρω](https://biblehub.com/greek/142.htm) through the idea of **raising a barrier**); properly, **to ward off**, i.e. (by implication) to avail (figuratively, be satisfactory) -- be content, be enough, suffice, be sufficient. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)

Perhaps what the writer of Hebrews is saying is that true contentment, then, can be seen as more than just enjoying a feeling of satisfaction about our current circumstances. Perhaps he is saying there is a “proactive”, “intentional” component involved in long-term contentment.

This idea of raising a barrier to ward off temptation reminds me of visiting my grandmother for lunch as a kid. In true grandmotherly fashion, my sweet Nanny would continue to push mounds of food in front of me, even though I was clearly already stuffed to the gills. Those conversations would usually go like this:

"More chicken, sweetie?"

"No, thank you."

"How about another roll?"

"I'm good, but thanks."

"Now you know you want some more green beans..."

"Seriously, I can't eat another bite."

This would go on for some time before she would eventually switch tactics to a less subtle approach. She would walk in with a massive slice of her signature chocolate pie and wave it in front of my nose to tempt me, until finally I would have to raise up the barrier of my hand and sternly declare, "Nanny, I am completely full. Please, I've had enough," warding off her mercilessly delicious wares (along with the bellyache that was sure to follow if I succumbed) and pushing the plate far away.

True biblical contentment, then, can be defined as **raising up a barrier against the temptation to take something "better" than what you already have, thus warding off unhelpful and potentially dangerous desires.  

Certainly, we see examples all throughout the Bible of people who failed to ward off that which was offered to them as better than what they already had, and we see the disastrous consequences that come from those failures. Of all those examples, though, Adam and Eve--the very first humans--offer up a perfect example of what can go wrong when we don't take a proactive, intentional approach in how we view our possessions, status, and circumstances. 

In Genesis 3, the serpent proposed to Eve the idea that God was holding out on her, and even lying to her, by saying she would die if she ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Eve fell for the deception. The serpent's offer appealed to Eve as being "good for food", "a delight to the eyes", and "was desired to make one wise" (v. 6).  But the most deceptive part of the serpent's proposal was that Eve already had all these things **all around** her: plenty of beautiful trees that were filled with good food to eat and were a delight to the eyes that were provided by God (Gen 2:9), as well as being in the presence of God, the One who gives wisdom generously to all who ask (James 1:5). Eve already had access to the things she desired, and yet she was fixated on something she saw as being "better". So, she and her husband saw, they took, and they did what was right in their own estimation. The results were tragic.

Of course, not everything that is offered to us as "better" is a direct violation of God's commands. There are plenty of things in this world that are harmless, or maybe even good for us, in isolation. But the insidiousness of discontent is that the things of this world don't exist in isolation, and as we obtain more and more, the small weights of each desire add up to an overwhelming burden that can eventually crush us spiritually, as today's wants become tomorrow's needs. That result is just as tragic as the fates of Adam and Eve.

How can we maintain contentment, then? Certainly, in the middle of being tempted to obtain more, we can stop to evaluate and recognize that the cost of obtaining "just one more" often outweighs any gains experienced by obtaining it. But if we're being honest with ourselves, most of us are rarely that objective and level-headed in the heat of the moment. However, if we are willing to prepare ahead, it's much easier to avoid the temptation in the first place by putting up barriers in our lives to avoid seeing it altogether.

If that means we need to schedule times to turn off the TV, close our laptops, or sign off from social media, putting up those barriers is a small price to pay to ward off the temptations by advertisers, influencers, and even our friends and family to obtain something "better" than what we already have.

Actions like those will dramatically increase our chances at true, long-term contentment.

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