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 clothing, we will be content with that.

One of my cherished childhood adages was, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Embracing the notion of taking control, I resisted the idea of succumbing to life’s bitterness when there was something to be done about it, and I definitely didn’t want someone else telling me I couldn’t make lemonade any way that I pleased.

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Yet, in today’s verse from 1 Timothy, Paul counsels his “son in the faith” to embrace “contentment.” When I was young, this directive seemed to mean that I needed to be happy with lemons. It implied suppressing my desire to work toward lemonade, insisting that I learn to love lemons, whether nourishing or not.

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This fueled a prolonged theological struggle: If a situation was hurtful, why did God command contentment? Didn’t he desire good things for me? Didn’t he want me to be happy, safe, loved…or was that all a lie?

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Interpreting contentment in this light set me up for continuous hurt. I perceived God as one who wanted me to linger in grief, sorrow and anxiety, resigned to my situation as if it were His will. It made God seem like someone keeping the good things at bay, and I felt guilt for wanting a job with fairer pay, an apartment with safer neighbors, a friend with kinder words, or a partner who led me toward Christ––I was just supposed to be content.

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While this ideology was hard, I thought I understood the beauty and goodness of it. I figured pain was inevitable, and I had to navigate life by suppressing all desire. It was a painful way to live.

Step 1: Wanting more of heaven

However, in 1 Timothy, “contentment” is the same word used in 2 Corinthians 12:9, when Jesus assures Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (emphasis added). Jesus anticipates life’s challenges and urges us to rely on the sufficiency of his heavenly power rather than the world. God doesn’t want us to be overwhelmed by pain and suffering; he desires our focus to remain on him. Asking us to be content is an invitation to dwell in the understanding that he is sufficient in all things. No matter what happens, he is with us, loves us, and is more than enough to overcome. Lovingly, he asks us to let him be enough for our hearts.

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Step 2: Wanting less of the world

Subsequently, in 1 Timothy, Paul warns, “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” (vv. 9-10). Encouraging contentment––or sufficiency in Him––is a warning of love. God understands the allure of the world and knows that we will crave earthly treasures. God also understands that the more we focus on worldly desires, the less attention we give to the holiness and goodness of his love. Since the fall in the garden of Eden, sin clouds our perception of good and evil. Because of this, God urges us to rest in his sufficiency. For without him, we live solely for this world, pursuing things with no eternal impact. Without a contentment in Christ, we will always yearn for the next best thing. Contentment is not as much a hard command, as it invites a beautiful alignment of our hearts with the only thing that truly matters––Him.

Lord, you are holy. I thank you for your goodness, and I am in constant awe of the gentle care you show me each day. You have never failed me, and I trust your Word that you never will. Thank you for not letting me sit lost in my sorrows, for I know you want good things for me. I am sorry for the days when I blame you for my trial, as I know that you only allow what you know will bear fruit in some way, some day. I know that you are sufficient, and I praise your Name. Thank you for keeping me close and for asking me to be content in you, for you would not be our true Father if you wanted anything less for us. In Jesus’ mighty and sufficient name, I pray. Amen.