1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Paul was telling Timothy here that there will always be those that misuse God's Holy Word, thinking that Godliness is a way to gain materially. He also pointed out that Godliness is most certainly a significant gain, but not unless accompanied by contentment. The question is: Do we genuinely believe that we have a God that knows just what we need, not what we might want. Another question we should be asking ourselves is, are we somewhat discontent, constantly feeling like we need to provide more and more for ourselves.
This self-sufficiency is an area in the life of the Christian that can cause one to fall back into the world. If we think we should have more material things than we are getting, or we need, then we might very well lack this contentment spoken of in this verse. If we experience some form of material loss, we become very distressed or depressed; we may lack this contentment. If we are at a place in our lives that we get some excessive and exorbitant pleasure from purchasing and having material things, then we might not have the contentment that is a significant gain, spoken of in this verse of scripture (1 Timothy 6:6-8).
There is also another important message in this verse of scripture: we came into this world without anything, not even clothes on our backs, and we are going to leave it the same way (Job 1:21; Ecclesiastes 5:15). Our worldly possessions are things that we should use for God's glory and the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Therefore, when God provides for us, we should be contented with the necessities of life (Matthew 6:24-34; Luke 12:16-32; Hebrews 13:5-6).
The only road to this contentment spoken of here is when our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls are rooted in eternal matters, not temporal affairs. This contentment that comes only from God is sometimes elusive because the consumer culture we live in will always feed our lack of joy. It is sometimes difficult to feel content because we often have carnal desires for more than we need. If we reach a time in our lives that we are discontented, it may be because we are trying to fill needs in our lives on our own. Some will try to fill these needs with more and more material things. Still, we can only find this contentment through a personal relationship with our creator, our Savior, and our sustainer, Christ Jesus.
Paul is also letting us know that even if we are at church every time the doors are opened, pray every single day, give to those in need and do all the things that the super pious Christian might appear to do, we have nothing if we are not content with what God has provided for us. Real true Godly contentment can only come through faith in God that He will provide for us.
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