The Gain of Contentment

UV 1348/10,000 The Gain of Contentment
But godliness with contentment is great gain
I Timothy 6 v 6
Godliness with contentment brings us much spiritual, emotional, relational, intellectual, generational, psychological gain. Discontentment that afflicts so many in today’s world produces much strife and misery. Many are pierced with sorrows due to the love of money or lack of contentment. The more they earn monetarily, the more they want and the greater is their lack of peace and inner joy. They also end up doing many foolish or wicked things that they will regret all their lives. They also worry about how to safeguard what they have earned. They worry about their successors and heirs. Contentment brings in its wake physical health and well being. It makes one wise and pleasing to God. It enables people to strive for righteousness or perfection and thereby they catch up with excellence.

The opposite is also true: ungodliness and discontentment is great pain. It affects families and marriages. People work hard all their lives to build large houses and fortunes only to find their homes and lives are empty and broken. The stress brings with it a variety of diseases or illness. The certainty that we cannot take anything with us when we die should have a sobering or balancing effect on our earthly appetite. We need to decide how much is enough and rejoice that God has enabled us to enjoy the fruit of our labour. Contentment will give us a thankful and cheerful heart. A cheerful heart and face is good medicine for our souls and our entire being. Happiness is wanting what we get. We will rejoice in the many blessings the Lord has given us.

Many people try to become heroes in others eyes by adding many zeroes behind their ones. Scripture says that those who are covetous will be lead into many temptations, snares and lusts of the eye and of the flesh. These foolish and hurtful lusts will lead to their downfall and destruction of their souls. Those who are contented find their security in the Lord. They are contented as long as God has given them food and clothes and met their basic needs. They do not want to keep up with the Joneses. They do not compete with others in amassing wealth and wait on the Lord to prosper them gradually and measure by measure. While they sleep, God will prosper them. But their hearts will not be on the earthly blessings but focussed and anchored in the Lord. They will look upon their earthly possessions as a trust for which they ought to be good stewards and managers. The assurance that God will never leave them nor forsake them is sufficient to keep them going. Since the bondage of money has no power on them, they are able to give liberally to support causes and meet needs of others. They will flee or run in the opposite direction of the world- away from such foolish and wicked lusts and instead pursue or run after the character traits God wants us to possess, the very character or nature of God, faith, love, patience and meekness. They exult with the thought that a heavenly reward or recompense awaits them at the end of a life of faith, contentment and godliness. So we find that as we run, there is a reward and there is a reward at the end of life in the hereafter and eternal. The things we have here is like the glucose runners are given to sustain them and the real reward is at the end of the race which is meant for keeps or forever.

Prateep V Philip