At our women’s morning recently, Clare shared her recent reflections on generous, simple living from 1 Timothy. This blog is a shorter summary of what she shared that day.

“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. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

This passage sits at the end of 1 Timothy, a letter from the apostle Paul to his “son in the faith” Timothy, who was involved in the leadership in the church of Ephesus. Much of the letter focusses on what being a church looks like in practice, on Timothy’s role as a leader and on God’s grace at work in the lives of sinners like Paul himself.

Paul returns to a topic that he discussed at the beginning of his letter – false teachers, those who love controversy, who see so called ‘godliness’ as a means to financial gain. This leads us to chapter 6, verse 6, where Paul sets out something better than the financial gain these false teachers seek. He says: “godliness with contentment is great gain.”

And what does it mean to be godly or to be content? Contentment says: “I have enough for today and I will give thanks.” Contentment does not look like envy or jealousy, like coveting money or chasing after possessions. For the Christian, contentment is trusting God to provide what we need, when we need it.

What about godliness? God is very good in giving us his son, who, as God himself, gives us a pretty good picture of what godliness looks like. Jesus was tempted in every way and yet was without sin. He loved the Father with his whole heart, mind, body and soul. In Jesus’ words and actions, we see perfect compassion, perfect humility, perfect mercy, perfect justice, perfect generosity, perfect sacrificial love, and perfect contentment. Being godly means being like God, and so being godly means being like Jesus, and following him in our thoughts, our words and our deeds.

So why is it that godliness and contentment lead to great gain? Surely neither are a quick way to prosperity or a life of abundance and ‘blessing’. Paul continues in verse 7: “For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it.”

Wealth is temporary and uncertain, whereas God is unshakeable. Paul is encouraging Timothy, the Ephesian church, and by extension us, not to put our hope in wealth but to put our hope in God.

We are born with nothing and we can take nothing with us when we die. Material things are not permanent. Paul is encouraging Timothy to live life in light of eternity. I think that means living a life of simplicity, one that doesn’t run after money and possessions, but runs towards God. It means following Jesus’ example of sacrificial love, of living simply and living generously. It means depending on God to provide and trusting in his provision. God makes it clear that generosity is to be a defining feature of his family – generosity that flows from a heart that knows that the best is yet to come.

I often swing between one extreme and the other. On the one hand I feel the draw of possessions and money, of having somewhere nice to live, and possessions that make life more comfortable and exciting. Then there are other moments when I act like I’m denying myself and following Jesus, but actually I’m refusing to care for myself in some of the most basic ways, which is why I find the next verse quite helpful.

Paul says in verse 8: “if we have food and covering we will be content.” Paul acknowledges our basic needs: food, clothing and shelter. For some of us it can be easy to hear the call to denying ourselves as a command to deprive ourselves in a way that is actually harmful and unkind. So it’s important that we don’t hear this wrong.

However, Paul does speak of being content with just these, which is a more challenging call to a life of simplicity than I think we often want to accept. I’m not saying to “go and throw away everything you own that isn’t food or clothing”. But I think this does help us to see the danger of chasing after wealth and possessions. It helps us think about being intentional about how we spend our money, how we give, and how we see the duty of having possessions.

When we go to buy something, we can ask ourselves, ‘do I need this?’, ‘can I justify spending money in this way?’ Again, for those who err on the side of depriving themselves, remember that caring for ourselves is good and right. But how often do we spend without really thinking, and yet find ourselves reluctant to give beyond what is comfortable?

We can find ways to be generous with the places we live, the things we have and the money in our bank accounts. We can choose to sacrifice that takeaway, that cinema ticket, that extra iced coffee or that new gadget, in order to bless someone else. How could you choose generosity and simplicity in one way in the week ahead?

It’s not that money itself is bad, but that the love of money is a danger that we can only just begin to fathom. The language that Paul uses in verses 9 and 10 is serious. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” We only need to look at our world, our media, our society and ourselves to see some of the ways in which the love of wealth and prosperity has led to pain, heartbreak, addiction and ruin. Across the world, the love of money has brought inequality, injustice, exploitation and abuse.

In verse 9, we see that “those who want to get rich fall into temptation”, “a trap”, into “many harmful and foolish desires.” And what do these desires do? They “plunge” people into “ruin” and “destruction”. The word translated “plunge” speaks of being dragged down by something, pulled into water and drowning. Paul is clear about the dangers of coveting things and money, of finding satisfaction and contentment in material things. We need to be aware of the temptation that money, things, and the idea of wealth can be to us, and to guard ourselves against these.

I would strongly recommend being accountable to others with your lifestyle and your money. I find it really difficult to find the balance between indulging myself and neglecting myself. Having friends who can say something when I’m going too far one way or the other has helped me to give in a way that is more focussed on God’s glory and not on my own comfort or pain. After all, it’s not really about us.

God has given us so much more than we deserve. We have received grace upon grace. God the Father gave us his very own Son. Jesus gave us his very life as he died on the cross, taking the punishment that our sins deserve, so that we could be forgiven. He has given us his Spirit, that we would have faith in him and that we would be transformed to be more and more like him.

As children of God, we reflect our good and heavenly Father who has given us many things, as we give generously and as we trust in him. Be warned by the warnings, whether you have everything or you have nothing, look for where you are chasing after wealth and possessions in your life and guard yourselves against the love of money.

Don’t put your hope in wealth. Do put your hope in God. In everything, trust in our heavenly Father who richly provides. Live simply, live generously and follow our generous God.