A L M A C I A S

CONTENTMENT

We live in a world that is moving so fast that we sometimes wish we could get off (at least for awhile), but we can't. We live in a world where it seems many are rushing to get to nowhere. We live in a world in which people have more than they ever had and yet still want more. What has happened to contentment? What has happened to being satisfied with the basics of life? Is it wrong for people to want to have more and more and more? Let us go to the scriptures and see what God's Word says about having and wanting more and never being satisfied.

In I Timothy 6-11, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, and to all of us, about contentment and about gain. First of all, Paul said that "godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." In these verses, and the verses that follow, we find out where many of us have gone wrong. We find out just exactly what God sees as being sufficient for our lives while we journey through this earth. Who else would know better than God Himself what is best for us in this world of ours? God created us and He knows the dangers that await us every day we spend in this life. Therefore, we should heed whatever He has to say about contentment and about wanting more and more and never being satisfied.

Paul says first of all that "godliness" with contentment is great gain. We can easily see that even contentment by itself is not sufficient, but rather "godliness" with contentment should be our goal. Now the question we all must ask ourselves is how was Paul using the word "godliness" here? Godliness is anything we do to try to be more like God. That is to be like God in character. In the beginning, we read in the book of Genesis that God made us in His own image; and when man sinned, he was no longer in the image of God. But God, being the loving God that He is, made it possible for man then and man now to be able to get rid of sin and again be like Him. It is through the Word of God that we learn how to be Godly. And it is when a person is trying to be Godly that he will see things as God sees things and therefore will be content with whatever God says in His Word. How content are you?