Godliness with Contentment I. Introduction: Godliness with contentment. A. Debt Statistics. 1. Americans have over 1.59 trillion dollars worth of debt, and that does not include mortgages. 2. 500 million credit cards are issued annually in North America. 3. 1,452,030 people filed for bankruptcy in 2001. 4. The average American spends $1.22 for every dollar they earn. B. Why does America have this problem? 1. The answer is greed and covetousness. 2. Our world is centered around stuff. 3. And the desire to obtain stuff. 4. It is a common characteristic of man. 5. Greed and covetousness are not new. - In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon speaks of his desires to obtain wealth. - Vs. 10, Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor. C. Covetousness and greed are dangerous temptations to us, to Christians. 1. Solomon continues in Eccl. 2 to talk about what riches did for him. - Vs. 11, Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. - It does us no good yet we seek after it. 2. Paul warns Timothy about the dangers of greed. - The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Tim. 6:6 3. Jesus gave a strong statement regarding the danger of covetousness. - For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Lk. 18:25 4. Jesus gives us a rule that we should live by in Lk. 12:15. - Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. D. 1 Timothy 6:6 1. Godliness with contentment is great gain. 2. That is the answer to this great problem.
II. We are facing an Uphill Battle. A. Stages of development of man. 1. Early Childhood. - Mine and I Want - learns how to get what he wants. 2. School Age. - To be popular, has to have what everyone else has. - brand names. 3. Young Adulthood. - enamor of credit cards. - need to impress. 4. Family Years. - wants family to have it better than they did. - keeping up with the Joneses 5. Retirement Years. - wants to make kids and grandchildren happy, often through gifts. - inadvertently teaches children about greed and covetousness. B. Greed and Covetousness are all around us. 1. At our workplace. 2. In our families. 3. Among our neighbors and friends. 4. On the television set and the movie screen. 5. There is an overwhelming emphasis in our society on stuff. - the hot toy for the year. - Furbies, Tickle-me-Elmo, Cabbage Patch dolls. - adults getting into fights over toys. - What will somebody do for a million dollars? - Survivor. - Who wants to marry a millionaire? III. We must Battle the Love of Money and learn contentment. A. We have a problem with contentment. 1. We re always wanting to be in a different situation. Elem. School junior high Junior High high school High School college College working Working married Married children Children without children Without children retired Retired grandkids 2. We need to learn the attitude of the apostle Paul.
- Phil. 4:11-13, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 3. Chief area that we have a problem with contentment is in our finances. - we always want a little more. B. 1 Tim. 6:10 1. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 2. Money is not bad. - money has many good uses. - money helps you do good. 3. How important is money to you? - be honest. 4. The desire for money will undoubtedly affect every one of us. - It has affected me. 5. It affects our whole society. - Dave Ramsey and credit card stories. C. Contentment with what we have. 1. Nothing wrong with trying to improve our financial situation. 2. But there is danger in pursuing riches. 3. Happiness cannot be equated with how much money we have. - or how many nice things we have. - or how nice a car we drive. - or how big of a house we have. 4. Contentment is: - being just as happy whether you live in the poorest part of the world or the richest part of the world. - Ethiopia or the United States, the slums or a mansion. IV. We must Learn to Control Ourselves. A. Man has a problem with giving in to his desires. 1. As John states, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. - we fall in love with the world and its treasures. 2. We see things that others have and we ve got to have it. No matter what it takes. - neighbor s house. - brand new sportscar. 3. John also tells us that we have got to learn to control our desires. - 1 Jn. 2:15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. B. Animals don t have this problem.
- Birds build their nest, they rear their young, and they make annual flights to other climates. But so far as is known, it s never tried to build more nests than its neighbor. - No fox ever fretted because he only had one hole in the earth in which to hide. - No squirrel ever died in anxiety lest he should not lay up enough nuts for two winters instead of one. - And no dog ever lost sleep over the fact that he did not have enough bones buried in the ground for his declining years. C. How can we control ourselves from these desires? 1. Learn. It s a decision. - it is natural (common) to man. - but we still make our own decisions. - Paul: I have learned... to be content. Phil. 4:11 2. Count your blessings. - realize you are blessed even if you don t have it all. - We sometimes work so hard, because we don t think we have much. - We want to be rich. But we re already rich. - God has blessed us so richly. - As David said regarding the blessings of God, Many, O Lord my God, are your wonderful works which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Ps. 40:5 3. Place Your thoughts on a higher plane. - don t fall into the trap of thinking that you ve got to have it all. - do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Mt. 6:25 - life is about more than just stuff. 4. Put emphasis on giving. - tendency is to enjoy getting more than giving. - Jesus said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 - God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7 5. Realize that happiness is not tied to goods. - you can be rich and not be happy, and many are rich and not happy. - you can be poor and be happy, and many should be. - Happiness to a Christian is not measured in how comfortable we are.
- In Luke 6, Jesus foretold his disciples that they would be severely persecuted, He then proceeded to tell them that when that happens, they should rejoice in that day and leap for joy! - Why? Because their reward is great in heaven. - Happiness should be tied to our relationship with God, nothing else. 6. Remember that nothing is ours anyway. - give God the glory. - all that we have is God s. He gave us everything. - Thus, we should not boast or be confident in what we have. - As Paul said, But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Gal. 6:14 V. Conclusion: Contentment for All Ages. A. Review main points. 1. We are facing an uphill battle! 2. We must battle against the love of money and learn contentment! 3. We must learn to control ourselves!