1 Tim 6:6-8: There is great gain in godliness with contentment; 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 shall be content."
I read those words yesterday and I stopped and thought about how far I must be from contentment and, therefore, godliness, because I do have food and clothing, and even a nice, warm, dry house and yet I find myself not being content.
At times I think more about what I don't have, or what we can't do because we don't have the money, or what I feel we need, and I fail to be content with all of the things that God has blessed us with...so much more than just food and clothing. Really, if I believe what St. Paul is saying, all I need to feel contentment in my life is food on my table (and we're even more blessed because we have food on the table three times a day, not just once!) and clothing to keep us warm and covered. If I can feel content with just that, then I will have great gains in godliness.
After reading that passage, I almost couldn't go on to finish the chapter as there is so much to meditate on in just those two verses. However, I pushed ahead to see what else I was needing to hear and came up with the following points:
1. "The love of money is the root of all evils" which probably means that I shouldn't spend so much time worrying about it! My focus must be more on the things I read next...
2. "Aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness." Now there is enough to keep one busy for quite sometime.
3. "Be rich in good deeds." If #2 doesn't keep me busy, I can just add in a full measure of good deeds and I shant have to worry about ever having time to worry about anything else.
St. Paul gives us the key to a good life in one chapter: Be content with the simple things like food and clothing, aim at being virtuous and keep yourself occupied with good deeds. While I know that he lived in a world far different than our own, these words are timeless and are good things to strive for.
