A New Kind of Discipline pt. 7: Contentment & Simplicity

Enough Is a Word We’ve Forgotten

Most of us live with an inner restlessness that whispers, “You don’t have enough. You aren’t enough. You need more.” Our culture thrives on that restlessness—more possessions, more experiences, more likes, more upgrades.

But Scripture paints a different vision. Contentment is the inner posture of trusting God’s sufficiency. Simplicity is the outward practice of aligning our lives with that trust. Together, they form a rhythm that is profoundly countercultural and deeply liberating.

Richard Foster observed, “Simplicity is the only thing that sufficiently reorients our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without destroying us.” (Celebration of Discipline)

The Biblical Root

Paul, writing from prison, offers a radical confession: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” Philippians 4:11

This wasn’t resignation—it was resilience. Paul had tasted both abundance and lack, and he found a secret that anchored him: Christ’s strength.

Elsewhere he writes: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” 1 Timothy 6:6–8

This echoes wisdom across history. The philosopher Epicurus said, “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” Paul reframes that truth in Christ: contentment is not self-sufficiency but Christ-sufficiency.

Here, the Hebrew tradition offers a powerful parallel: Dayenu (pronounced dah-YAY-noo).

Sung during Passover, Dayenu (“It would have been enough”) recounts God’s saving acts—from delivering Israel out of Egypt, to giving the Torah, to bringing them into the Promised Land. After each act, the people sing: Dayenu.

Dayenu is the language of contentment, of receiving each gift as enough on its own, even while knowing God always gives more. It trains the heart to see sufficiency in every step of grace, not just in the destination. Paul’s words in prison echo this very spirit: “What I have is enough, because Christ is enough.”

Why This Discipline Matters Today

We live in the noisiest, most distracted age in human history. The pursuit of more has become the air we breathe. Clogging our calendars, emptying our wallets, and eroding our souls are the fruits of this labor!

Micah 6:8 captures it in action: walking humbly with God requires us to unclutter our lives from pride, greed, and busyness. Contentment is the heart; simplicity is the lifestyle.

• Contentment pushes back by re-centering us in Christ. It declares, “I have enough, because He is enough.”

  
  

• Simplicity pushes back by rearranging our lives so that less really is more. It clears space for what matters most: relationships, worship, rest, and generosity.

  
  

Dallas Willard warned, “Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

Psychologists affirm what Scripture has long taught: more stuff does not equal more joy. A landmark Princeton study (Kahneman & Deaton, 2010) showed that emotional well-being does not increase once household income passes about $75,000 a year (around $100,000 today). Beyond meeting basic needs, more wealth doesn’t make us happier.

Dr. Tim Kasser, who studied materialism for decades, wrote, “The more people prioritize materialistic values, the lower their well-being and the higher their levels of anxiety and depression.”

Economically, the cycle of “never enough” is crushing us. According to the American Psychological Association’s 2023 Stress in America survey, 72% of Americans report feeling stressed about money on a regular basis. The average U.S. household now carries over $6,000 in credit card debt (Federal Reserve, 2024).

Economist Juliet Schor notes in The Overspent American, “As consumption expands, aspirations expand… and satisfaction becomes elusive.”

Our economy thrives on perpetual dissatisfaction. Our souls cannot.

Practices to Try

• Practice Gratitude Daily. Start and end the day by naming three things you’re thankful for. Harvard research shows gratitude measurably improves emotional health and lowers stress. Gratitude is the soil where contentment grows.

  
  

• Write a Dayenu Litany. Take time to create your own “Dayenu” prayer. List the ways God has been faithful in your life—deliverance, provision, relationships, grace—and after each one, say aloud: Dayenu. It would have been enough. This rewires your heart toward sufficiency in God.

  
  

• Fast from Excess. Choose one area—social media, shopping, entertainment, or even your calendar—and cut it back intentionally for a week. Neuroscience suggests constant novelty-seeking rewires the brain for discontent. Fasting restores balance.

  
  

• Create Margin. Leave 20% of your schedule and budget unfilled and uncommitted. In his book Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson calls margin “the space between our load and our limits.” Without it, stress becomes the default.

  
  

• Give Generously. Simplicity makes space for generosity. Studies in The Journal of Positive Psychology show giving increases happiness more reliably than spending on oneself. This turns simplicity into blessing.

  
  

• Practice Sabbath. Weekly rest reminds us we are not defined by productivity. Abraham Joshua Heschel called Sabbath “a cathedral in time”—a holy simplicity that recalibrates our souls.

  
  

Reflection Questions

1. Where do I feel the most restless or “not enough” in my life right now?

2. Which area of my life (possessions, schedule, finances, relationships) most needs simplification?

3. How does practicing gratitude or writing a “Dayenu” prayer open the door to deeper contentment?

4. If someone looked at my life, would they see freedom and joy—or clutter and striving?

A Final Word

Contentment and Simplicity invite us to breathe again. They are not about scarcity or denial but about fullness and freedom.

When we let go of what we don’t need, we discover what we’ve had all along: the enough-ness of God’s presence.

The Hebrew people taught us this posture through Dayenu:

• If God had only delivered us from Egypt—Dayenu.

• If He had only given us Sabbath—Dayenu.

• If He had only brought us to the Land—Dayenu.

Each act was enough, even though God gave more. Paul echoes that same posture: I have learned to be content in any and every situation.

Augustine prayed it this way: “You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”

To live this discipline is to whisper back to our restless culture: Christ is enough. My life is full. I don’t need more…unless it is more of Him!