Great Gain
Are you content with being godly?
Verse of the Day
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Today’s Devotional
This verse in First Timothy follows a section of teaching about people who distort the Gospel. These people tend to be divisive, quarrelsome, and arrogant, perhaps without even knowing it. But then there’s the kicker….that godliness should not be used as a means to financial gain.
I have no plans to become a health and wealth preacher, telling people that when they follow Jesus they will become rich, successful, and immune from sickness. But I need to ask myself how to contextualize Paul’s instructions to fit where I am in my spiritual journey.
Am I willing to be content with learning to be more like Jesus each day? Or…am I following Jesus because of the benefits that I think it will bring?
Paul is telling us that if we can be content with leading a godly life, then we are on the right track with what we value. But I need to be honest here. I’m not sure how I would rate in either godliness or contentment, much less the two together.
According to Paul, I need to be content with choosing the next right action no matter the outcome. For me, this is calling into question what I actually value. It also makes me question whether or not I trust Jesus when He says in Matthew 6:20, “Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal.”
Perhaps contentment comes from valuing the right things – which are not “things” at all.
Here is a challenge from one commentary: “When we live and act without contentment, we are trying to fill needs in our lives – a need to be “somebody”, a need to feel secure or cared for, a need to have excitement and newness in our lives – most people try to fulfill these needs with material things, but they can only really be met by a spiritual relationship with the God who made us. Real contentment isn’t too difficult for those whose real home is heaven. It requires but little of this world’s goods to satisfy a man who feels himself to be a citizen of another country, and knows that this is not his rest.”
So much of what I am learning as I study each topic is about perspective. How am I seeing this world and my place in it? What am I focused on? What do I value? Contentment is clearly a matter of perspective. If God’s promises are true, then no matter what is happening in my life, God is good, He is in control, and everything will turn out exactly as it is supposed to. My job is only to do the next right thing. That sounds like contentment to me.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Where do you struggle with valuing godly characteristics and actions?
When you live and act without contentment, what is it that you are lacking? How do you typically try to fill that need?
How can you shift your perspective toward contentment today? Do you have everything you actually need in this moment?
What is your next right action?
What would you consider “great gain”?