1Ti 6:6-11 ¶
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be
therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which
drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
meekness.
2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
I looked across my desk at a young man quite handsome and
his proud parents as they listened to me advise them of a few next steps in
this journey called “life after graduation.” This young man had no idea,
really, of what he wanted to do. Money for college was no issue which is not
the norm for most of our seniors. Both parents had dreams of a prominent future with a six digit income for their son. We
looked at his career results and I spurted a few more questions hoping to wet
his appetite somewhat just to get an idea which direction to take. Of course
the obvious question was, “Son, what has God shown you thus far in your walk
with Him?” His parents were not aware that he was considering a Christian
college and I needed to respect his decision to wait and tell them, but
something inside of me wanted to scream out, “Hey, can’t you see this one decision,
right now, is the launching for all other decisions in life?” I held my tongue
and applied some patience in the matter until God gave me the green light.
“What do you really WANT to do? I asked
“Play golf!” He declared while his dad chuckled and I smiled. Mom didn’t know
what to say.
“Will you be able to support yourself, a wife, and 10
children, playing golf?” We all laughed together but soon thereafter, the boy revealed
his plan of sending his application to a Christian college. Parents were
shocked. They had no idea. Where in the world had they been all these years?
Somewhere in his education with us, he grabbed the fact that he needed to
continue his Christian education beyond our academy. I had to make myself
contain these words, “WELL, BLESS GOD. WILL SOMEBODY SHOUT, HALLELUJAH?”
God’s plan….what is it? The sooner in life we tackle this question, the sooner we will have more opportunities to reveal the character of our awesome, wonderful God! This sixth attribute, Godliness, mentioned in II Peter 1 is one that is challenged daily in our society. According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, Godliness is defined as:
1. A religious life; a careful observance of the laws of God and
performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and reverence for the
divine character and commands; christian obedience.
We have an unscriptural view of Godliness and I believe it must stem
from so much deception in our churches. Preachers have been known to teach that
gain is a good sign of living right, sending your money all over the world and other erroneous interpretations of godliness and this is wrong folks, pure erroneous teaching of God’s
Holy Word. I Timothy 6: 5 “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and
destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw
thyself.”
Godliness with contentment is almost unheard of. The scriptures teach in I Timothy 6:6 that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Our gain should be things of a spiritual nature. Have you ever known so many families, women in particular, who are never satisfied? There’s constant switch out of homes, furniture, vacations, various get-aways, clothes, re-do this and replace that….and never satisfied! We’ve all experienced it to some degree and there is certainly nothing wrong with a new or improved look to something, but I am seeing more and more young people who cannot get enough of any one thing simply because they practice what they see around them. We have handed them too much! My young friend has had to work for nothing! It isn’t his fault, and the parents are trying to make it easier for him than they, themselves, had it……once upon a time. So, Sharon, what does Godliness have to do with young people not being able to make up their minds about their future? Glad you asked……..
Godliness with contentment is almost unheard of. The scriptures teach in I Timothy 6:6 that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Our gain should be things of a spiritual nature. Have you ever known so many families, women in particular, who are never satisfied? There’s constant switch out of homes, furniture, vacations, various get-aways, clothes, re-do this and replace that….and never satisfied! We’ve all experienced it to some degree and there is certainly nothing wrong with a new or improved look to something, but I am seeing more and more young people who cannot get enough of any one thing simply because they practice what they see around them. We have handed them too much! My young friend has had to work for nothing! It isn’t his fault, and the parents are trying to make it easier for him than they, themselves, had it……once upon a time. So, Sharon, what does Godliness have to do with young people not being able to make up their minds about their future? Glad you asked……..
God’s Word teaches us that when we have too much of something in the world we may fall into a kind of temptation that will slowly pull us away from knowing God and His long time plan for our lives. Haven't you noticed that the decision to read and study God's Word EVERY DAY has made a marked difference in your outlook on life? Sheri and I make grammatical errors, use words that some people have to imagine the meaning of, but one thing we cannot fail in is this fact to know Him is to spend quality time with Him, and as you spend quality time with Him you want (desire) to be LIKE Him....which is Godliness! Godliness cannot happen quickly. It takes time with His precept upon precept; God’s Word day in and day out. Therefore, Godliness has to be taught in the home and then it doesn’t always pan out the way we dream it should. You know why? Our youngsters have a will all of their own.
Stay with the stuff! Don’t move with every wind of doctrine.
Our children, our grandchildren need us to be faithful standing firm in God’s
way, adding godliness to patience or their plans may be to just “play golf.”
The detour ahead in their life may cause them to fall off the edge. Be strong;
run with the power of the scriptures, reeling them back to safety. The warning
has been given to us in verses 9 & 10 from I Timothy 6, “But they that will
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is
the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Godliness
is the opposite! Focus on being like God as verse 11 states, “But thou, O man
of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
Until next time, Lord willing!
Sharon
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