Most people in America know this verse:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The truth of it is, you’re probably using it wrong, or you’ve seen it misused. If you read this verse as a motivational quote for your athletic endeavors or business ventures, you’re missing Paul’s point entirely. This verse is about supernatural contentment.
Paul is not telling you to set high goals and white-knuckle through them because God has promised that you can do anything you put your mind to and He’ll give you strength to endure. That message actually fuels your discontentment.
When read in context with the rest of Philippians—a book about abandoning your worldly gains and losses to strive for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3)—it doesn’t make sense for Paul to promise later that you can have everything you could ever want, as long as you rely on God to give it to you. That’s a false gospel, and a cheap one at that.
Even if you don’t profess this belief, you still get stuck in this mindset and heart posture. You say you desire Jesus more than anything, but deep down, you believe you’ll only “make it in life” when you have enough, when your life goes according to plan, when you feel really strong and have it all together. This is because sin rewires you for discontentment.
The first lie that brought sin into the world was that God withheld from humans (Genesis 3). Because of this, you will always want more and never have enough. You will never be happy with your life as it is, and that mindset is enslaving. If your ultimate aim is for life to always go your way, you will live a miserable life.
But Paul’s secret to contentment in Philippians 4 is that true joy—true fulfillment can never be found in our circumstances. No matter how much we lack or have, we still have a solid reason to be content.
Philippians 4:13 was not written by a man who had everything going for him, but rather one who had everything going against him. Paul was a victorious missionary and church planter, but his Christian walk was also marked by deep suffering and sorrow. So when he says, “I can do all things,” it’s not accolades and right-living he’s thinking of.
He’s remembering when he was stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19). He’s recalling the 39 lashes he received five different times because of his faith in Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:24). He’s thinking of his three shipwrecks, his multiple imprisonments, his many sleepless nights, his groaning stomach without food and water, his daily exposure to the biting cold and scorching heat (2 Corinthians 11:25–27). He’s reflecting on the heavy spiritual burden of every single church he’s ever planted (2 Corinthians 11:28).
Paul believes he can really do all things because Christ sustained him when every earthly support was stripped away. Do you pray for this kind of contentment when troubles come your way? You may not even need to know why God is allowing this suffering, but do you live with the freedom that trusts He knows what He’s doing?
Paul’s all things also include his thriving in ministry, his deep friendships with ministry partners, his witnessing of the gospel changing lives, and his status as one of the primary church planters and New Testament authors in history. Right before verse 13, he says he’s learned in any situation to be content and includes “facing plenty” and “abundance” (Philippians 4:11–12).
Paul can only say this because he is so satisfied in Christ and the many graces He offers that he doesn’t need to look to anything else to fill him. Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35), and Paul has feasted on Christ to his own fullness. Every other good thing apart from Christ—this abundance Paul’s talking about—is merely dessert, serving as a sweetener. But you don’t need dessert to function, and neither should you rely on it entirely for sustenance.
No matter how much you gain in this life, your soul can only be satisfied by the sustenance of Christ Himself. If you have Jesus and nothing else, you have everything. Do you start your days from a place of fullness, feasting on Jesus and His companionship? Or are you choosing to go without, where you’ll be tempted to satisfy the hunger in your soul with junk food and empty snacks, the flimsy pleasures of this world?
The key is that contentment takes practice. Paul didn’t say he is content, but he has learned how to be content. Lack and abundance tempt us to tie our joy to the ebb and flow of our lives, but we can surrender to the One who strengthens us to endure all things and be content.
This is because contentment never starts with us or what we can accomplish. It always begins with Jesus and what He has accomplished: a secure righteousness and relationship in Christ for us to receive. Contentment doesn’t require anything more than what we already have in Jesus. He gives us the strength to press on and remain content—whether in lack or abundance.
Want to dive deeper? Check out our sermon series guide on the book of Philippians, or watch the most recent sermon from our Philippians sermon series.
