“But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV)
Amos 6 starts with a Woe to those who are complacent, so I thought it would be good for us to compare complacent to contentment, for these two words seem similar and yet contentment is good while complacency is bad.
If we do a dictionary search we find that Complacent “is showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements” and Contentment “is a state of happiness and satisfaction”. The difference between complacent and contentment seems to be in the smugness that is associated with happiness and satisfaction. If we then look up smugness we find excessively pleased or satisfied – and so we can deduct from the definitions of these words that happiness and satisfaction is ok as long as it isn’t excessive. I feel a little bit bad about wasting your time with human reasoning for this process hasn’t taken us very far.
But if we look at 1 Timothy 6 we realize that godliness is the difference between complacency and contentment. Godliness is the difference between the blessings and the woes in Luke 6 as well. Godliness starts with a desire to be more like God, it is a hunger and a thirst for righteousness that leads us to Him. This hunger and thirst for God can be quenched by wealth. Our affluence brings temporary relief to our need for God and we can become complacent and fall away.
Satisfaction and happiness without godliness is complacency and WOE to us when we become complacent.
The way forward for each of us who live in affluence is to pursue godliness above all else, we need to refuse to be satisfied with our affluence and seek satisfaction from the only true Source.
As I write these words, I think- how do I actually do this? How do I seek God when my life is full of good things?
Well that thought is the beginning of making it happen.
Let's make it happen in our lives!
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