Faithfully Living in the Household of God with Godliness and Contentment:

Introduction:

Understanding True Contentment:

We now enter into the final stage of Paul’s letter to Timothy, where he is going to provide his last instructions. Paul continues his encouragement to Timothy to live in the household of God with the highest integrity.

1 Timothy 3:15 “if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

What is interesting in our passage, is the means by which Paul reenforces this idea to Timothy. He does this by contrasting the mindsets of the unbelievers and false teachers with that of the Christian regarding money and contentment.

Paul states in 1 Timothy 6:10 “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 leads us to the conclusion that what Paul says at the end of verse 5, means that the false teachers where using their platform as a means of amassing money for themselves because they viewed money or wealth as the place contentment was found.

Paul says, 1 Timothy 6:5 “and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

The Greek word that we translate “means of gain” is the word “porismon,” means to “gain wealth, a means of making a profit.”

This was the mindset of the false teachers, they believed that their position of leading and teaching the church was to bring them money, that was their goal. And therefore, if they could just gain more power, more influences the greater amounts of money they could extract from the church. They imagined that godliness was their ticket to material wealth, this is the lie of the prosperity gospel.

But what they appear to have missed is that they sought something that was good, but by sinful means and this was because their love was in the wrong place and because they lack true contentment in Christ.

1 Timothy 6:10 “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.”

The false teachers according Paul appear to love money, which is a root cause for all kinds of evil. Meaning that they where willing to do whatever actions it took to get money. Even if that meant the abuse of people and the misuse of God’s word, and they did this all by hiding their actions behind a veil of godliness.

Matthew 15:8 “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;”

They look good on the outside, and in the presence of people they do just enough to make the undiscerning person think they are godly, but on the inside their hearts are dead.

Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”

Paul’s encouragement for the Christian is that we should understand what godliness actually is, and what is produces; and it does produce gain or profit.

1 Timothy 6:6–7 “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”

The same Greek word that Paul used in verse 5 for “means of gain” is used again in verse 6, “porismos.” What makes all the difference here is the mindset regarding profit.

Now there is a major shift in thinking that needs to take place for the Christian regarding money, profit, gain, effort, work, and wealth. We have a great difficulty because of false beliefs regarding money, that causes us as Christian to consider the gaining of wealth as something wrong or sinful.

But is it not the gaining of these things that is sinful, rather it is the love of these things that is sinful.

1 Timothy 6:9 “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.”

What Paul displays for us is the heart of man struggling with sin, and the heart of the Christian actually finding the place of rest. Paul wants us to grasp that where the false teacher errors at a foundational level is regarding where he finds rest. Paul uses the word contentment to illustrate this, and it is played against the word desire from verse 9.

But contentment means, satisfaction in one’s circumstance or position in life. And that is founded on the reality for the Christian that our lives are hidden in Christ, and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. Thus, as the Bible proclaims I am a new creation in Christ, the old has passed away, behold the new has appeared.

But the “desire” here is that which blots out all else. This is expressed well 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 the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

It is the misplaced desire for riches blots out all else, in following this desire, you become a slave of money. That is the sin, the object does not become sinful, rather your missed placed focus in loving that object pits you against God, who should be the one we love and worship.

And this is where the false teacher are led astray, because they misplaced their love. And unfortunately according to the Bible those who are rich, appear to have the temptation before them of trusting or hoping in their riches as a means of salvation or contentment.

Therefore, everyone, those with money and those without money have the need to reorient their lives and find true everlasting contentment in Christ, not in the things of the world that are passing away.

Paul says, 1 Timothy 6:17 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

Paul, also says to Timothy and us, 1 Timothy 6:6–7“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”

The focus is not what we gain in material riches, but rather what serves as the motivator for our actions and life pursuits. If the sole purpose of your life is the gain money or things then according to the Bible you are a foolish person.

And I must say that for the vast majority of Christians, that is our mindset. Because we work for money! We work for the paycheck, so that we can buy things we don’t need as a means to make us happy. This is the position of the lower and middle classes, they are the greatest consumers of goods they don’t need. But we pursue them because we have believed the lie that this is where true earthly happiness is found. Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace exists because this is the case, we love stuff and lack the self-control necessary to find true lasting contentment in Christ.

The Christian Perspective on Work, Wealth, and Contentment:

But the Bible provides for us a better focus, one that is in tune with God’s design and purpose for our lives.

1 Timothy 6:6–8 “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.”

When Paul says, “godliness with contentment is great gain.” He is pulling us toward the truth. He said that the false teachers imagined that godliness was a means of gain, which is true. But the false teacher used godliness as something they could put on and take off at will.

But for the Christian, godliness is the root that feeds every aspect of life. Whereas the love of money was the root that fed every aspect of the false teachers life. Therefore, the Christian understands that a life of godliness with contentment is of great gain to them and others. Because it is not focused on the accumulation of things, rather it is focused pleasing God in all of life.

The Bible says, Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Therefore, the Christian does not work for money, the weekend, or material things. Rather the Christian works for the Lord and His glory.

The Bible says, 1 Peter 4:10–11 “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The shift in focus here is mind blowing, because it moves you from focused on what you can get and moves you on to how you can best glorify God in your work regardless of the compensation. Money is the consequence, not the motivation of hard work. The Bible says, 1 Timothy 6:7 “for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”

The false teacher flips this truth on its head and says the money is what causes my hard work, which leads him to only teach what makes him more money. This means he will always shy away from hard truths and will instead teach things that make people feel good about themselves or distort the word of God to make people like him. But the Christian operates with a different focus.

The Bible says, 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

This is the starting point for the Christian, whatever we do we do it to the glory of God. This means we should be the most disciplined, focused, hardest working, best employee, best employer that we can be. Our boss should love seeing us walk through the door in the morning because they know we will work harder than anyone else and make the business better. They may not understand our motive, but they see the results.

Furthermore, if we are working for the glory of God, complaining about work should be a foreign concept. The Bible says, Philippians 2:14–15“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

Because godliness with contentment is of great gain. This means that you understand that wherever you find yourself as a Christian you have everything you need. Because you are a child of God, and because of Christ you are a new creation and as a result of that truth the following verse holds true for your life.

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,”

Next the Christian is to be a diligent and relentless worker, whose striving is based on wisdom.

Proverbs 6:6–11“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”

In the Christian life, there is no place of laziness and idleness. We where created for work; when God created man and placed him in the garden, it was for him to work the garden, tending it and advancing it, not for a vacation.

The Bible says, Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Work is not the result of sin, work is the primary physical task that God gave to humanity as stewards of his creation. The difficult nature of work is the result of sin, and our hearts now struggle with it.

The Bible says, Proverbs 14:23 “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.”

Christians ought to be the most industrious people on earth. There was a time when Christianity lead the world in innovation, education, health care and much more. All because those who came before us believed with conviction that their work was truly for and to the Lord.

For the goal of the Christian is to bring glory to God by his heart attitude and diligent work ethic.

Lastly, since the Christian does not work for money or to gain material things, they are freed to be the most generous of all people.

The Bible says, Proverbs 11:24–25 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”

When we have had that mind shift from seeing a limited supply of everything and scarcity of money and goods, which leads us to horde things. To understanding that God is the supplier of all that we need. We are freed from the fear of loss, or being consumed the desire to horde.

Allowing the Christian to look at their time, energy, money, resources and say, all that I am and have belongs to the Lord, and therefore, God use me as thy will desires. For truly in that place there is rest, peace, and safety; for the love of money and its cravings do not hold sway over our lives. Saving us from experiencing the pains and woes that follow wandering away from the faith.

Conclusion:

As we reflect on Paul's words in 1 Timothy 6:6-10, we're reminded of the truth that true contentment is found in the pursuit of godliness. Paul's contrast between the mindset of the false teachers and that of the Christian serves as a reminder of where our focus should be.

The love of money, Paul tells us, is a root of all kinds of evils. It's a temptation that can lead even the most devout astray, causing them to prioritize earthly gain over spiritual health and faithfulness. But for the Christian, contentment is not found in the accumulation of possessions or wealth; it's found in a true and deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we shift our focus from the pursuit of material gain to the pursuit of glorifying God in all aspects of our lives, we find true fulfillment. Our work, our actions, our very lives should be dedicated to bringing glory to God. Releasing us the to work hard in all areas of life, as we work for the Lord and not man.

As we strive to live lives of godliness and contentment, let us remember that our ultimate treasure is Christ alone. May we be diligent workers, generous givers, and faithful stewards of all that God has entrusted to us. And may we find rest, peace, and safety in the knowledge that our true worth lies not in what we possess, but in whose we are. Amen.

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