Philippians 4:12
“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Paul has learned to be content whether brought low or in abundance, whether full or hungry.
What Does Philippians 4:12 Mean?
Paul describes the full range of his experience. He knows how to be brought low and how to abound; in every place and circumstance he has been instructed, full or hungry, in plenty or in need, to remain content.
Both poverty and abundance have their own dangers, want can breed anxiety, and plenty can breed pride or forgetfulness of God. Paul has learned the secret of contentment in both. The word instructed suggests being initiated into a hidden lesson, as if contentment were a mystery he had been let into through hard experience. He had known hunger and fullness, lack and surplus, and through it all had found a steady heart. This is no small achievement; many are undone by little and many more by much. Paul stands free of both extremes, content in all, and the next verse names the source of that strength.