Am I Sinning When I'm Not Content?

Is Discontentment Sin?

Yes, I think it's a sin—but I don't think Christians always view it as such. It's a sin because we're to be content in God. So, whether explicitly or implicitly, when we are discontent, we're discontent in God.

We're questioning God's wisdom, his goodness, his sovereignty, his love—that's the heart of what it means to be sinful!

Think of the nation Israel wandering in their wilderness—they grumble and complain. Discontentment became characteristic of walking and wandering in the wilderness. Ultimately, it wasn't about the food or the accommodations—it was about God. "What did God do? Why did God do this?"

While we might not say specifically, "God has done this," when we grumble about our circumstances, we grumble about the way the Lord has provided, and we grumble about his wisdom: "Why have you allowed it this way?" And then we're grumbling about his character: "If God was good, he would not allow this to happen." And then we start grumbling about his sovereignty: "Is he really in control?"

We're questioning God's wisdom, his goodness, his sovereignty, his love—that's the heart of what it means to be sinful!

Chasing Contentment

Erik Raymond

In this immensely practical and encouraging book, Erik Raymond establishes what contentment is and how to learn it, teaching us to trust in the God who keeps his promises rather than our changing circumstances.

Are You Blaming God for Everything?

We often have a truncated view of the way that the world works, and the way God works in the world. God is the one who wrote the Bible, saved us from our sin, hears our prayers, but in terms of his involvement in the day-to-day, we might not consider his sovereignty. For example, I'm convicted about complaining about the weather because God is sovereign over the weather.

We don't see God connected with the minute-by-minute, day-to-day stuff. We seem him in charge of the "big" things—our eternal destiny, salvation, heaven and hell, the Word of God—but we don't think of him as involved in the details of day-to-day life. If we start to realize he is the one we're actually complaining against as we walk through the "wilderness" of the world, I think we might see that we have far more to think about with regard to contentment and God's sovereignty.

Erik Raymond is the senior pastor at Redeemer Fellowship Church in Watertown, Massachusetts. He is the author of Chasing Contentment: Trusting God in a Discontented Age and a frequent contributor to many websites and periodicals. He blogs regularly at Ordinary Pastor, hosted by the Gospel Coalition.