Being Content With What We Have

-August 17, 2023-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

(1 Timothy 6:6-8).

When we are born as babies into this world we come with grasping hands; grasping for the things of the world. We continue this our whole lives until, when we die, we leave this world with open hands, for we can’t take anything out of this world. For us as believers, only the Lord can help us to be content with what we have, for He has given us so much.

Paul was probably the most content man in the world. He preached the gospel, planted churches, and encouraged the saints. He supported his needs by making tents. Many gave help and support to him. He speaks of learning the secret of being content. In today’s Christianity it is a secret we must learn daily. We are bombarded with advertisements encouraging us to want more, spend more, and have more.

In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul wrote, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” If Paul had to learn these lessons, how much more do we need to learn them as well.

Being content with the basics of food and clothing, keeps our wants few and our hearts open to helping others in need. My teacher Bible Bill MacDonald wrote, “To some, the idea of contentment means the lack of drive and ambition. They picture the contented person as a drone or a freeloader. But that is not godly contentment. The contented Christian has plenty of drive and ambition, but they are directed toward the spiritual not the material. Rather than being a freeloader, he works so he can give to those in need.”

I confess I have a long ways to go. I am not as content as I want to be or should be. It is a daily battle to be content with what God has given me and be happy with what He has given others. There is nothing wrong with money, it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. There is nothing wrong with having material possessions, for we need them to live. We just don’t need the latest, the best, or the most expensive. People in the world who have the most, want the most. They also are the least happy and the least content.

Let us be content with what we have. Contentment starts in the heart and is demonstrated in action daily. Have a content and blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

If we can’t be content with little, we will never be content with more,

Dean