Personal note: Tomorrow (Tuesday, August 13) I (Stephen) am scheduled for surgery. Although Brooksyne and I write and share these messages together I do all the technical work so we won't post another message until I have sufficiently recovered. See note below for more information.

Message summary: May God give us all a resolve to be content both in regard to our possessions or any situation we may providentially find ourselves in, thereby attaining great gain!

Listen to our message on your audio player.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6).

Yesterday I taught from 1 Timothy 6:1-10 in our "Crossroads" Adult Bible Fellowship class. This portion has a number of themes but one of them is contentment so we will consider that today. In the context of money contentedness is being satisfied with what you have but there is also a sense of contentedness in regard to the conditions in which we find ourselves in life.

Contentment is a virtue that the majority of us have yet to consistently attain. Even when you have it you may find it easily slips away. Today's brief text is easily memorized, "Godliness with contentment is great gain".

Just prior to this section Paul addressed false teachers who supposed that godliness was a means of financial gain. I wonder who these teachers were in the context of that time period. In our own day there are those who sure seem to be "in it for the money" and for some "religion" has paid off handsomely.

Today's tiny verse is power-packed. Most view the experience of "gain" in life as having more money and possessions. But that is certainly not what the apostle Paul is writing about. Consider the power of the phrase, "But godliness with contentment is great gain". Paul is urging Timothy in the brief section that follows to consider genuine gain.

Godliness is a greatly needed virtue in our time. God will always have a remnant who walk in a manner that honors and pleases Him. Godliness indicates we will have a "God-ward attitude" of reverence and respect. We will do that which is pleasing to God so that it becomes a way of life for the godly person.

Earlier in this letter Paul wrote, "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:7,8). This expresses the infinitely greater value of godliness over that of financial or material gain. As a result of this godliness we have the inner peace of knowing that we are right with God and, whether we live or die, we belong to Him. This godliness is profitable for all things impacting us in both our present life and our future eternal life.

Paul is simply presenting the two choices Jesus spoke of in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth". Notice there are only two options that our Lord gives; you cannot choose both. Money is what you make it—a master or a servant.

From the beginning Satan has tormented the human race with the deceptive lie, "That which God has provided is never enough". His lie to Adam and Eve was their first temptation with deadly consequences. Essentially, by tempting them to partake of the tree of life, he told them that the breathtaking beauty in the Garden was not enough; that human companionship was not enough; that God's provision was not enough; and that God's authority was meant to be questioned.

Today we have a growing allure toward more wealth and possessions which we've been told will make us happy. But contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want (which will always be changing), but the realization of how much you already have and finding satisfaction with that. It's realizing and acknowledging that, "All I have needed Thy hand hath provided."

Pastor Steve Coles of the Flagstaff Christian Fellowship (a church I visited years ago while in Arizona for a chaplain's conference) wrote,

May God give us all a resolve to be content, thereby attaining great gain!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13