Godly Contentment
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10
I have been struggling with contentment lately. My biggest struggle is with my house, of all things. Don’t get me wrong. It is a nice house, way nicer than anything I or my husband grew up in. The new trend in the area we live is massive square footage homes in subdivisions where you can jump roof to roof – literally. I realized that I had stopped most hosting or inviting people over because I had become insecure in our home. It is just too small and with a baby due this month, I’m feeling its small size and stressing how we can make it work.
Yet, as a family, we have determined to try to make it work. We are close to having it paid off. We want to travel more in our RV. This is how we feel we are best managing what God has entrusted us, so why do I continue to struggle with feeling unhappy about it?
Then our pastor preached a sermon on Godley Contentment as he preached through the text of 1 Timothy. He made three points about wallowing in discontentment, which I realized I had allowed myself to do with our home.
1. We brought nothing in this world and we can’t take anything with us. Everyone knows this, right? But do we really KNOW it? Our worth is in Christ alone, not the goods we can attain during this super brief time on earth. I can work, struggle and stress to get that bigger house with more square footage but in the end it really doesn’t matter. It isn’t going with me. There are way more important things to be done with my time on this earth than stressing what size my house is.
2. We have everything we need. God has promised us in His word that He will supply all our needs. The prosperity gospel has done a horrible job in teaching this because they equate luxurious wants with needs. God doesn’t promise us everything we want, he promises us what we need. I have a roof over my head that is nice and comfortable. We have food on the table and clothing to wear. We have reliable transportation. We have all our medical needs covered financially through Samaritan Ministries. We have more than we need. This, of course, doesn’t mean we won’t have issues along the way. We have struggled through job loss and no income several times in our marriage. In the end, we went without wants, but never without needs.
3. Pursuing ungodly contentment is destructive and leads to unwise decisions. Yes, we have been here too. I remember early in our marriage making extremely unwise financial decisions. At one point, we were in debt with a house, 2 cars, a JetSki and a boat. I remember having $40 to buy groceries with. That was a hard realization that we had made the destructive choice to buy goods and didn’t have enough money for food. By God’s grace, He saw us through this time and we were able to get our finances in order. Too often, a dire situation like this would stress a newlywed couple and possibly lead to even more destructive decisions.
1 Timothy 6:10 says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
This verse is often misquoted and misunderstood, but the basic meaning is that loving money is a root of all kinds of evil: pride, sinful decisions, discontentment with what you have, wallowing in discontentment. Having money in and of itself isn’t the evil, but loving it and wanting to gain it at all costs is the problem.
In the end, it comes down to being content with Christ Alone. That is they mystery in being content. Regardless of our circumstances, regardless of our finances, home status, cars we drive or clothes we wear, are we content with Christ Alone? I admit, I have a ways to go to learn true Godly Contentment. But as I study and understand more about what the Bible teaches about contentment, the more I want to follow that mandate and not my own desires.
God’s plan is always perfect. I need to learn more to trust it and stop making my own plans.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
Such a powerful message, Dana. I have to admit, I have been there too – discontentment. However, the older I get, the more I understand Godly contentment.
And congratulations on your new baby girl.
Contentment is something I have had to learn to do. Whether it is great or small, I know that God will always meet my needs. Congrats on your new baby girl! What a blessing.
God can show you how to savor the small things. Think of your home as your nest. It doesn’t have to be large to be full of love. Our families remember that more than stuff.