SEEK GREAT WEALTH
Jenna Worsham
Today’s Scripture: “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” 1 Timothy 6:6, NLT
Theme: Great wealth is found in contentment, not prosperity.
PROSPEROUS
Are you baffled by the ultra-wealthy who bemoan their discontentment? It seems that they have literally anything they could want, and it isn’t enough. The prosperous find that contentment is not found in the things money can buy. Maybe you’re there. You have it all: the house, the car, the boat, the vacations, private school, elite activities--and yet something is missing. You don’t have enough to be content.
POOR
Maybe you truly don’t have enough – food, money for rent, transportation, or clothes. The impoverished, on the other end of the spectrum, do find that a small amount of money does help. When money earned or provided allows a person to eat until full, receive health care, purchase comfortable shoes, and receive basic education, it provides contentment – to a point.
Sometimes those who are rich in resources provide for the basic needs of others. Sharing what we have and seeing the profound impact it has on the needy brings some contentment, too. Even secular philanthropists understand this. Jesus was both poor and wealthy, a philanthropist and a thankful recipient of generosity.
GODLINESS
Jesus was content. He lived with His parents, worked a blue-collar job, spent time with His friends roaming the countryside, and He didn’t have a ton of money in the bank. Sometimes we think that godly people have a ton of resources because “they can handle them.” Yet many people who have great wealth are not godly. The correlation is more random than scientific. However, we know that Jesus could have managed the entire world of resources well. Yet while He was human, He didn’t pursue prosperity or monetary gain.
CONTENTMENT
A godly life is a simple and content life. We experience godliness with contentment when we serve away from home, at Cove Students, Cove Kids, FeedNC, with the homeless, in Puerto Rico, South Africa, Costa Rica, Egypt, Uganda, and around the world. We have designated time to read the Bible, we serve others daily, we eat what’s provided, and find we are content (and very tired). Even in our own homes, when we are not distracted, we feel the same rhythm of serving and working, resting and contemplating. Contentment, regardless of location, is of great value. Seek godliness with contentment, not material gain, and you will find great wealth.
Make It Personal: Would you consider yourself content in your current circumstance? What would it look like to pursue godliness with contentment in the coming weeks and months? Do you have enough to meet your basic needs today? If yes, is there anything keeping you from contentment? Pray for God’s leading so that you may become and remain content.
Pray: Father God, thank You for providing for my needs today. Help me to be godly and content. I want to remember that godliness with contentment IS great wealth. Sometimes I get confused about what wealth really is. Help me to be generous to others, focused on serving and not on accumulating. You are so faithful and patient, even when I’m distracted or confused by what is important. Thank You for sending Jesus as the Word made flesh to love and save us and to show us what it means to be human. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read: Philippians 4:11; 1; Luke 12:15; Proverbs 13:7-8
Weekly Memory Verse: “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” Ecclesiastes 5:10, NLT