diff --git a/features/contains.feature b/features/contains.feature
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5813be20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/features/contains.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+Feature: Contains
+
+    Scenario: Searching for a string
+        Given we use the config "basic.yaml"
+        When we run "jrnl -contains life"
+        Then we should get no error
+        and the output should be
+            """
+            2013-06-10 15:40 Life is good.
+            | But I'm better.
+            """
+
+    Scenario: Searching for a string within tag results
+        Given we use the config "tags.yaml"
+        When we run "jrnl @idea -contains software"
+        Then we should get no error
+        and the output should contain "software"
+
+    Scenario: Searching for a string within AND tag results
+        Given we use the config "tags.yaml"
+        When we run "jrnl -and @journal @idea -contains software"
+        Then we should get no error
+        and the output should contain "software"
+
+    Scenario: Searching for a string within NOT tag results
+        Given we use the config "tags.yaml"
+        When we run "jrnl -not @dan -contains software"
+        Then we should get no error
+        and the output should contain "software"
diff --git a/jrnl/Journal.py b/jrnl/Journal.py
index 0fd41c22..b3f8f47e 100644
--- a/jrnl/Journal.py
+++ b/jrnl/Journal.py
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ class Journal:
         tag_counts = {(tags.count(tag), tag) for tag in tags}
         return [Tag(tag, count=count) for count, tag in sorted(tag_counts)]
 
-    def filter(self, tags=[], start_date=None, end_date=None, starred=False, strict=False, short=False, exclude=[]):
+    def filter(self, tags=[], start_date=None, end_date=None, starred=False, strict=False, short=False, contains=None, exclude=[]):
         """Removes all entries from the journal that don't match the filter.
 
         tags is a list of tags, each being a string that starts with one of the
@@ -210,6 +210,9 @@ class Journal:
         # If strict mode is on, all tags have to be present in entry
         tagged = self.search_tags.issubset if strict else self.search_tags.intersection
         excluded = lambda tags: len([tag for tag in tags if tag in excluded_tags]) > 0
+        if contains:
+            contains_lower = contains.casefold() 
+
         result = [
             entry for entry in self.entries
             if (not tags or tagged(entry.tags))
@@ -217,6 +220,7 @@ class Journal:
             and (not start_date or entry.date >= start_date)
             and (not end_date or entry.date <= end_date)
             and (not exclude or not excluded(entry.tags))
+            and (not contains or (contains_lower in entry.title.casefold() or contains_lower in entry.body.casefold()))
         ]
 
         self.entries = result
diff --git a/jrnl/cli.py b/jrnl/cli.py
index 945a728f..139c7eb5 100644
--- a/jrnl/cli.py
+++ b/jrnl/cli.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ def parse_args(args=None):
     reading = parser.add_argument_group('Reading', 'Specifying either of these parameters will display posts of your journal')
     reading.add_argument('-from', dest='start_date', metavar="DATE", help='View entries after this date')
     reading.add_argument('-until', '-to', dest='end_date', metavar="DATE", help='View entries before this date')
+    reading.add_argument('-contains', dest='contains', help='View entries containing a specific string')
     reading.add_argument('-on', dest='on_date', metavar="DATE", help='View entries on this date')
     reading.add_argument('-and', dest='strict', action="store_true", help='Filter by tags using AND (default: OR)')
     reading.add_argument('-starred', dest='starred', action="store_true", help='Show only starred entries')
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ def guess_mode(args, config):
     elif args.decrypt is not False or args.encrypt is not False or args.export is not False or any((args.short, args.tags, args.edit)):
         compose = False
         export = True
-    elif any((args.start_date, args.end_date, args.on_date, args.limit, args.strict, args.starred)):
+    elif any((args.start_date, args.end_date, args.on_date, args.limit, args.strict, args.starred, args.contains)):
         # Any sign of displaying stuff?
         compose = False
     elif args.text and all(word[0] in config['tagsymbols'] for word in " ".join(args.text).split()):
@@ -236,7 +237,8 @@ def run(manual_args=None):
                        strict=args.strict,
                        short=args.short,
                        starred=args.starred,
-                       exclude=args.excluded)
+                       exclude=args.excluded,
+                       contains=args.contains)
         journal.limit(args.limit)
 
     # Reading mode