Contentment is something that I have been struggling with a bit recently (ok, pretty much all the time...), so this is more for me than anything; but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the subject.

There is a very well known verse about contentment that I'm sure you know, but before reading that, I wanted to share another verse that make the comitment verse that much more convicting (and encouraging once the initial sting of conviction wears off), so lets start with that verse;

2 Corinthians 11:23b-28 is the story of Paul's life after becoming a follower of Christ; it reads:
in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Fie times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.

Now keep this verse in mind as we look at the next verse. Remember, the same man who endured these things written in 2 Corinthians, is the same man who wrote 1 Timothy 6:6

But Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Two things really jumped out at me when I read that verse (besides being amazed that Paul could actually write on this subject with what he was regularly going through), and the first has to do with verse eight. Is it the food and covering themselves that make us content? No, I don't think it is. Those things are just the evidence that God is indeed taking care of us as He promises. Seeing this promise fulfilled in our life should bring us contentment. We know what kind of God we serve, and that no matter how it seems, God has His hand on our lives. In that knowledge we can be content.

The second thing I was thinking about had to do with verse six. What does it mean that Godliness with contentment is great gain? It reminded me of the story in numbers, when the twelve spies went into the promise land to spy it out Joshua and Caleb, you remember, were the only ones that came back with good reports. All twelve saw the exact same things, so why do you suppose Joshua and Caleb's report was different? Because they too knew the kind of God they served, and they knew He had His hand on their lives, and in that knowledge they were content. While I'm sure the other spies were godly, they didn't have the contentment to be effective for God. To have that "great gain" we need not only to follow the Lord, but follow Him with contentment.