“Now
godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we
brought nothing into this world, and
it is
certain we can carry nothing out. And
having
food and clothing, with these we shall
be
content.”
1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NKJV)
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we’re reminded to give
thanks to God for His countless blessings in our lives. And gratitude is certainly the attitude of
heart we should consistently have, not only on Thanksgiving. But it seems to me that contentment goes hand
in hand with gratitude. For while we
thank God, how often are we truly satisfied with what we currently have? There always seems to be more on our list of
what we want or think we need.
To paraphrase Charles Spurgeon, if we aren’t content with that we
have, we will not be satisfied if it were doubled. True contentment is in our mind, not in the
extent of our possessions. That’s why contentment may be hard for us to gain
and maintain, especially in our culture when we are daily bombarded with ads
and media and other promotions of materialism.
We want the latest and newest things, or maybe it’s a change of
circumstances we desire, thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else.
We don’t need to worry about our physical needs because God
supplies us “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19,
NKJV) For most of us, however, our wants
go beyond necessities and are really luxuries, things that are pleasurable and
make our lives more fun and comfortable.
There is nothing wrong in having possessions or riches as long as we
don’t have a love of money. (1 Timothy 6:10)
But we should be honest and acknowledge that our self-indulgent desire
for more is really a sign of discontentment and dissatisfaction with what God has
already so graciously provided for us.
When we find ourselves in that condition, we can confess our wrong
attitude and ask God to cultivate true contentment in our hearts. That comes when we remember that we have all
that we need in Christ.
