#TuesdayTruth 1 Timothy 6:6-12

1 Timothy 6:6-12

“6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Contentment. Being satisfied.

Consider- what do we really NEED to sustain life? Oxygen, food, water, clothing, shelter? What else? Not the newest cell phone, not the new vehicle that your neighbor got, not the raise that your coworker received, not a lot of things. As this scripture tells us, we can (and should) be content with the very basics.

Now, I would argue there is a big difference in being driven to do and be your best, and being discontented. There is nothing wrong with working hard; in fact, we are told to work at whatever we do with all our hearts, “as working for the Lord…” (Colossians 3:23).

Those first 2 verses are not just about contentment, though. They read that GODLINESS with contentment is great gain. I have to think that the more we realize that the will of God is SO much better than anything we could desire here on earth, the more content we can be. That makes sense doesn’t it? The more we try to imitate our Father in Heaven, the more closely our desires will resemble His. There is nothing of this earth that will satisfy the soul, anyway. We are made for eternity.

So, what do we do, you ask?

Well, we read the last 2 verses above, and we “fight the good fight of the faith,” while running after:

  • Righteousness

  • Godliness

  • Faith

  • Love

  • Endurance

  • Gentleness

Remember, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” Especially in the times that we are currently living, it can be difficult to keep our focus where it should be and to remember that very thing. We must keep our focus on eternity, love God with all our hearts/soul/strength/mind (Luke 10:27), and love those around us (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8).

The challenge I extend over the coming week, both to myself and anyone reading this is three-fold:

  1. Recognize that God’s will is better than my will.

  2. Practice being content with exactly what I have.

  3. Focus on what really matters in the scope of eternity.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for giving us all that we will ever need, both here on this earth and in preparation for eternity. Please help us to be a content people. Help us remember that your will is far better than our own. Make us a people who know we where are going, and that this world is not our home. Thank you for the hope of eternity, with you. That is what gets us through the hardest days.

We love You Father, Amen.

Drew Gonzalez