Are You Content?

I would like to share with you some thoughts about contentment. The passage I’ve chosen to lead us in this study is 1 Timothy 6, verses 6 thru 10.

The Apostle Paul’s letters to Timothy were letters of encouragement and instruction. As Timothy’s mentor, Paul was equipping Timothy with the tools he would need to lead the church in Paul’s absence.

In Chapter 6, Paul is teaching Timothy about the characteristics of false teachers.

Since I dislike taking verses out of context, I would like to share from verse 3 of 1st Timothy 6 and that will lead us into verses 6 thru 10.

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:3-10 ESV)

Paul is telling Timothy that one sign of a false teacher is that they use Godliness for personal gain. False teachers use Scripture to puff themselves up. Their messages point to themselves, not to God.

But, in verse 6 Paul says that there is great gain in Godliness with contentment. So what is contentment?

Websters defines contentment as being satisfied, pleased or happy. That steak dinner was amazing. I am so content right now.

If we look up the Greek word for contentment in this passage, we come up with a much richer definition. The Greek word autarkeia is defined as “Sufficiency of the necessities of life”. Having all we need in life. Having all the resources we need to provide physical and spiritual sustenance for our families. So where do we get this sufficiency of the necessities of life? How do we arrive at contentment?

First we need to know what we consider necessities before we know if we have enough of it to be content, right? The world would have us believe that contentment is gained by personal wealth. The one who dies with the most toys wins.

But wait a minute. Verse 7 tells us that we brought nothing into the world and we can’t take anything out of the world. Well then, what’s the point of gathering all this stuff? Exactly the point Paul is making. Verse 8 tells us that if we have food and clothing, we should be content.

Back before I was a believer in Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, “church people” would really make me mad!

I’d see the “church people” on Sundays in their nice clothes driving around with big smiles on their faces in some kind of trance and think they were mindless idiots.

Religion was a crutch for these people to lean on. They couldn’t get through life on their own power. They were brainwashed drones. They needed help. How could those people be smiling in this world we live in? Don’t they have bills to pay? Aren’t they worried about living from paycheck to paycheck? Aren’t they worried about losing their jobs? What about the threat of nuclear war? Do they even realize what’s going on in the middle east?

Not to mention that all those church people were going to Sunday lunch at the same time and I would have to wait in a long line to get my Happy Meal!

How can they all be so ignorant? And why are they SMILING?!!

You know what? I didn’t smile much back in those days. Those of you who know me today and see my bubbly outgoing personality might find that hard to believe, but it’s true. Maybe that’s why it bothered me that the “church people” smiled so much.

How could they be so happy and at the same time be so ignorant?

Turns out, they weren’t ignorant. They were content. They were not stressing over a life filled with selfish pursuits. They were happy with what the Lord blessed them with.

Are you content with what the Lord gave you?

Up until recently I was not. I was jealous and envious of the finer things others had that I didn’t. Even after I was saved, I was envious of nicer homes people had. I was envious of the nicer cars they drove. I was envious of their financial security.

And all the time I would think, why didn’t God bless me with those things? What did I do wrong? Where are my blessings?

Puritan author Thomas Manton wrote, “The shepherd and not the sheep chooses the pasture. Leave it to God to give what is suitable to your condition in life.”

Well that went right onto my Facebook page!

After that sunk into my punkin’ head I came to realize that my blessings were right under my nose! All my life I was buying into the worldly desire to live my “best life now”. I was storing my treasures here in our temporary world, not in my eternal heaven.

Worse than that, by questioning God’s will I was like a little boy throwing a temper tantrum in the Throne Room of our LORD.

The very same whining I correct my own kids for, I was doing to God!

Let’s turn back to 1 Timothy chapter 6 and read verses 8 and 9:

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

This is where the worldly definition of contentment clashes with Scripture. Here is where we find out where our heart is.

Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs had a net worth of about 8 billion dollars when he died earlier this year. 8 BILLION dollars. To put that in perspective, if you tried to count his money one dollar at a time, you’d die before you got even close. If you counted one dollar per second, 24 hours per day, it would take over 253 years to get to 8 billion.

I think we all agree that is a lot of money. Was Steve Jobs content with his fortune? I don’t think he was.

Even with death knocking on his door, he spent his last days promoting his company. He could not leave that game. He couldn’t let go of the reigns. He needed to be in control.

A self described atheist, he died a bitter and selfish man who didn’t share his wealth or give to charities. He turned his back on family. By most accounts he was not a nice man to be around. He certainly didn’t fit either definition of contentment we’ve looked at.

His 8 billion dollars was not enough.

(By the way, is it a coincidence that the logo of his company is also a representation of the original sin? Biting into an apple?)

Verse 10 tells us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Notice it says the LOVE of money, not money. Money isn’t evil. Loving it is evil. Making it an idol is evil. Coveting it is evil.

We can never find contentment in the world. It just isn’t set up that way. We live in a world that encourages and enables us to live beyond our means, knowing that we will never stop reaching for that brass ring, even if we can’t afford it.

Here are some sobering statistics regarding credit card debt in the US.

The average credit card debt per household in the US is $15,956.00

The people of the US own 609.8 million credit cards. That works out to 3.5 cards per person. What’s in your wallet?

30% of credit card holders are delinquent in their payments.

America goes into debt because they are not content with what they have. They would rather spend now and pay later than budget now and buy later. Did Steve Jobs take any of that 8 billion with him? The one who dies with the most toys does not win. He just leaves behind more stuff.

We can never find contentment in the world. Our only contentment is that which we find in Christ. Godliness with contentment is great gain.

As for me, I have finally accepted that the Lord has me right where he wants me. If I’m stuck in traffic, I stop dreaming about a flying car that I can use to lift me up and fly me away from the bumper to bumper gridlock. (Wouldn’t that be cool?)

I give thanks for what He has blessed me with. It’s not the stuff I own. It’s the blessing of an amazing wife that I love and adore.

It’s the joy and honor of raising our children up in the Lord. It’s the fellowship we enjoy with our church family. It’s a nice, hot and gooey Cinnabun. (sorry, I must have been hungry when I wrote that part).

I accept the pasture my shepherd has selected for me and try very hard not to begrudge those who’s pasture appears to be greener.

Luke 12:15 tells us that our happiness does not lie in abundance, but in contentment.

Once we embrace that in our hearts, then and only then can we truly appreciate the blessings God has given us. Only then will we be happy. Only then will we be content.

Don’t be tempted to fall into the trap the world has set for us. Don’t be mislead by false teaching that we are owed something better and to live our best life now. Don’t define your worth by the stuff you own.

Don’t forget that we don’t own anything! We are just temporary custodians of God’s stuff until He calls us home. Our treasures lie in heaven. Our worth and value are in our hearts.

The finer things in life are already ours. It’s found in the contentment we gain by knowing the love of our Heavenly Father, and living our lives to His Glory.