Contentment Without Complacency

In order to ensure that we are being content without becoming complacent, it may be helpful to make sure we are clear on the difference between the two.

Contentment and complacency may appear to be similar but there are very important and impactful differences.

Being content means we don’t require more in order to be happy. Contentment is choosing to be happy regardless of the circumstances. It’s a very good and biblical attribute.

However, contentment should not be used as an excuse for complacency.

Being content does not mean that we should be lazy, nor does it mean that we cannot desire to become more, accomplish more, do more, have more and give more.

We should each be committed to good stewardship of the God-given talents, skills, abilities, desires, and opportunities we have been given.

Being complacent is essentially a refusal to work to improve our situation, and certainly not good stewardship of our resources.

When we refuse to work to improve a given situation, we are being complacent. A complacent person fails to realize their God-given potential because they are not attempting to grow and improve.

And we should desire to grow, learn, improve and accomplish more because in every area of life we don’t maintain in neutral - if we are not growing and improving, we are regressing and deteriorating.

Sadly, some complacent people will use contentment as their excuse to go through life blaming external things for their shortcomings, using the need to be content as an excuse for apathy, complacency and laziness.

Being content does not mean we are complacent.

While we may not like our current financial, physical, relational, or other situation, we can choose to be content while also being willing to work to improve in these various areas of life, so as to not be complacent.

We can continue to work to get better (avoiding complacency), without stopping ourselves from being happy in the moment (remaining content).

Contentment goes hand in hand with gratitude. Being appreciative and grateful to God, the giver of all good things in our life, is a big key to happiness and contentment.

Ironically, the complacent individuals, on the other hand, seem to take things for granted, may lack gratitude, and often do not enjoy true happiness.

The key to success in any area of life is to live life with gratitude, enjoy the journey, be content with what we have, and yet be continually learning, growing and improving, so as to never become stagnant or complacent.

Until next time, if you’d like to hear the most recent interview with comedian John Crist on my “Life's Hard, Succeed Anyway” podcast, you can listen and subscribe here.