This morning we looked at 1 Tim 6:6 (‘But godliness with contentment is great gain’) as we continued studying signs of spiritual growth and maturity. Godliness (devout piety, sacred awe, reverence for God) is developed within us as we long to be like God in all we are and all we do. As we grow, we become people who have a heart for the things God loves (‘chasing Your heart, just like David did‘, as Phil Wickham sings in ‘Carry My Soul’), people who fear God, love God and desire God. Devotion to God, then, is the mainspring of godly character and this devotion is the only motivation for Christian behaviour that is pleasing to God.
The word ‘godliness’ does not appear often in the New Testament (1 Tim 2:2, 1 Tim 3:16, 1 Tim 4:8, 1 Tim 6:11, 2 Pet 1:6), but the theme permeates our understanding of growth. Godliness is all about living like Jesus lived, about pursuing God with all your heart so that in the end all that is seen is God. Maturity means that people see more of God than they do of us. It’s not the same as perfection (our Bible studies are showing there is no such thing as sinless perfection on this earth for people!). but will be developed in us as we fix our eyes on Jesus and train ourselves, like the athlete or gymnast does.
Contentment is the other aspect mentioned in 1 Tim 6:6. We live in a very dissatisfied age where consumerism has become our culture and it is very hard to escape its tentacles, but Paul’s words in Phil 4:10-13 show us the attitude of the mature. Success comes not from the ‘stuff’ we own or the things we do but from living contentedly as God would have us live. The Message defines contentment as ‘the rich simplicity of being yourself before God.’ For us to be able to live contented lives, free from a love of money and free from this insidious consumer culture which keeps on relentlessly pushing us to earn more so we can buy more so we can have what is necessary for us to be happy, we have to understand that our world view has to change so that we see things the way God sees them. As we learn to pursue God and His heart, we find happiness and satisfaction in Him (Ps 16:11), knowing that He is all we need and all we desire.