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Contentment As A Virtue
April 26, 2015
We live in a society and a time when people are urged to want more, and to want what others have. This directly contradicts what Jesus taught. We are not to be covetous. We are to work for a living while trusting that God will provide the basic needs of food and clothing. The apostle Paul stated that he had learned to be content whether he was hungry or full, undersupplied or oversupplied. We can learn a lesson from that. - Bernie Parsons
Contentment As A Virtue
by Bernie Parsons
Presented to Globe church of Christ on 04-26-2015
Presented to Load church of Christ on 05-31-2015
Have you ever regarded contentment as a virtue? In the
United States of America, we are basically taught to desire more and
more, and to be driven by insatiable ambition.
Matthew 19:23 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven."
But God does not condemn gain through honest work.
James 4:13 "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into
such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then
vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do
this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.”
1 Timothy 6:1 "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their
own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine
be not blasphemed.
2 And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them,
because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are
faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and
exhort.
3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness;
4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes
of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the
truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."
The worker is to render a good day’s work for the
agreed-upon pay, and the employer is to pay the wages that he promises.
Therein lies the danger for the man with much money.
James 5:1 "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are
motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of
them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were
fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped
down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the
cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of
sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been
wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter."
While they rob wages of the worker, they live off the
fatted calf, as it were.
Employers are not only to pay their workers the promised wages, but the
rich Christians are to share with their Christian brothers and sisters
who are not as well off.
1 Timothy 6:17 "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be
not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to
distribute, willing to communicate;
19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time
to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."
James 4:1 "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not
hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:
ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it
upon your lusts."
Rather than lusting for more than we need and can use,
let us take up the care of our brethren.
Philippians 4:10 "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the
last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also
careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both
to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Even as the apostle Paul rejoiced in the gifts given him by his
brethren, he remarked upon his contentment in whatever state he found
himself – be that with not enough, or more than enough.
1 Timothy 6:6 "But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 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.
10 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."
Hebrew 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be
content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me."
If we trust God, we will not want more than we need, knowing that God
will meet our needs.
Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall
put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not
much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is,
and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you,
O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall
we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take
thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof."
Often overlooked is an aspect of the matter of wealth, that is to say,
our well-being, upon which the Christian life hinges.
Matthew 19:23 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto
you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying,
Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is
impossible; but with God all things are possible.
27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all,
and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the
throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
If we are truly Christians, we will see to one another’s needs and let
no one of us suffer want needlessly. In that way, we can truly be
contented with our lot in life.
