Rich With Godly Contentment

“Rich With Godly Contentment”

By Zach Wood

1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NLT)

“ Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.  After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.  So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.”

We live in a world where the market saturates us with the “have more” mentality.  It seems everywhere we turn, there is some ad or gimmick to try to sell us another product that will make us happy.  If we don’t try this, we won’t be content.  If we don’t have this in our home, we don’t have enough.  I must say that these marketing ads are powerful to tempt us.  Many of us, if not most, have given in to such marketing ploys to get us to acquire more. 

Whether we’re listening to sales pitch or we’re engrossed into an infomercial, we’re often tempted to get things that we really don’t need.  We often buy into the lie that if we just had more, we’d be content.  If we just had that next thing, life would be merry and we’d be just peachy.  Unfortunately, no matter how much more we try to get, we simply will not be happy. 

Paul’s letter to Timothy is very encouraging in that if we have Godliness and contentment, we will be happy and joyful.  It’s a mindset we must battle with each day.  Do we realize that God gives us what we need each day?  Are we content with what we already have?  Or, are we always wanting more?  We came into this world without anything and we will leave everything behind when we leave. 

No matter how much we’ve been taught this principle of life, we still often long for things that don’t matter one bit.  The excitement of the next great thing is almost always short-lived.  Then, we just want the next thing.  All the while, God is trying to tell us that if we just focus on Him, then we will have all we need.  Paul’s words here specifically address the love of money, but we can replace “money” with any material possession that is taking our contentment away. 

Are we happy and content with what God has given to us or are we always wanting more?