Being Content With What We Have
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” 1 Timothy 6:6-12
As much as I love scrolling Instagram and Pinterest to connect with friends or see beautiful, inspiring things, I regularly have to check myself because I can easily find myself discontent. We live in a world with more access and options than any other generation before us, and while that can be great for finding a great deal on tennis shoes or finding a cool AirBnb to vacation in, the truth is that–whether we realize it or not– we’re spending a lot of the day looking at all the things that we don’t have.
On my worst days, I quickly find myself feeling frantic and believing that if I just had that new dress or organization system, her body or income, their vacation or relationship, then I would be happy. By now, I think we all know that Instagram is referred to as “the highlight reel” for a lot of people, but how often do we really stop to assess the messages we’re internalizing and what they’re doing to our souls? How often do we stop and repent of the discontentment we feel about our situations?
1 Timothy 6 does a great job reminding us that almost everything we have in this life stays here in the end. We don’t get to take our fabulous wardrobe or the body we worked so tirelessly to achieve to Heaven. In fact, the only thing we get to take is our relationship with Jesus. He tells us godliness (following after God’s heart) with contentment (being grateful and secure with what we have) leads to great gain. When we draw close to Jesus, we realize that what we have is enough, and from there we’re able to find joy, peace, and love for our life and the people and things in it.
In the moments when my heart feels overwhelmed by what I’m lacking, I often remind myself of David’s words in Psalm 16: “You, O Lord, are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
For whatever reason, God has given you the life that you have. Others may have more, but He has given you this life, this body, this family, these things. Everything we have is a gift, and only when we look to God (and not the world) as our portion, we’re able to see it and realize that what we have is good and good enough.