291. Contentment
1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Paul says it is a great thing to be content. God promises contentment. Contentment comes with godliness. Godliness comes from God as a gift earned by Christ and granted by the Holy Spirit. Godliness has the promise of life. Life is living with joy and peace and contentment. Contentment is the gift of enjoying the life that God created and gifted to His children. Contentment is the opposite of greed. Greed is dissatisfaction with what we have and wanting just a little more. Contentment is happiness with what we have and receiving it with joy from God’s gracious goodness.
Greed says, “If I only had a little more I would be happy. If I only had this one more thing, or that different thing, then I would be satisfied” Contentment says, “God knows what I need to be content. If I need it He will provide it. If I don’t need it and it won’t make me happier, or more content, He won’t give it.” God knows exactly what I need and how much I need to be content; He promises to give everything I need.
We may join these two verses together: “If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches.” God promises contentment, and He promises to meet every need in order to be content. Our own sinful flesh and the world around us make it very difficult to be content with who we are and what we have. Sin and Flesh war against Grace and Spirit; this war causes unrest and turmoil and discontent. When we pay attention to the Word and the Spirit by hearing the Gospel with faith we get the upper hand in the battle and we settle into contentment. This is great gain: we win a few battles, but the war continues, so we soldier on. Daily we pray as our Lord taught us: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Then get up from your knees and go on your way content and happy. Repent and believe the Gospel and enter into the kingdom of contentment. It’s a promise and a miracle of God’s grace and goodness.