Thankfulness and Contentment

Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances.—Author unknown
“I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.”—Philippians 4:11
These words show us that contentment is not a natural propensity (tendency) of man. “Ill weeds grow apace.” Covetousness, discontent, and murmuring are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. We need not sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous (native) to earth: and so, we need not teach men to complain; they complain fast enough without any education. But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. 

Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated; it will not grow in us by nature; it is the new nature alone that can produce it, and even then we must be especially careful and watchful that we maintain and cultivate the grace which God has sown in us.