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The Pursuit of Happiness Daily Devotional -38

by David Joynt on February 09, 2021


PHILIPPIANS 4:12 | 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.

Paul’s contentment, however, is deeper than satisfaction with a given standard of living. He has learned contentment in privation, hunger, and need. Even without the basics he is not discontented.

How is this possible? Paul has made comfort and security secondary concerns. Focused on advancing the kingdom, he does not measure his happiness or success materially. With nothing, he is not falling behind, and happy to be helped by others. In abundance he is grateful he can return the favor.

How has your happiness correlated with your financial success?

How important to you is comfort? Security?

 

Tags: security, contentment

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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