What’s your motivation?
“Godliness with contentment is great gain” (The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6:6).
This phrase, written in the First Century by Paul to a young pastor named Timothy, whom he was mentoring, is in the middle of a passage that warns the young minister about the temptation to pursue temporary things instead of eternal things.
It’s not that Paul is saying that money is bad, that having goals is bad, or even that success is bad. Rather, Paul warns that the temptation is great -- even for preachers -- to be driven by things like wealth, success and achievement to the point that this “drive” becomes the dictator of all of our decisions.
In this way, the text bridges a two-thousand-year gap by warning that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,” and that “some people, eager for money, have wandered away from the faith. . .” (1 Timothy 6:10).
The alternative to being caught up in the “rat race,” driven by our material wants, for Paul is the passage above: learning “godliness with contentment.” In other words, Paul urges Timothy (and us) to pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). The pursuit of these characteristics as we seek to become instruments of God’s ways leads to eternal rewards, instead of short-term rewards that quickly fade.
A minister named Dr. Fred Craddock once told the story of a man who adopted a greyhound from a dog racing track. Craddock, the man’s neighbor, asked him how he was able to adopt this dog, which was still in such great condition.
“You’re correct that he’s still in great shape,” the man said. “He’s so fast that he actually caught that plastic rabbit that leads those dogs around the track on the conveyor belt.”
“Why did they retire him, then?” Craddock asked.
“When they catch the rabbit and realize it’s fake,” the man replied, “the dogs won’t race anymore.”
“If only we could be so smart,” Craddock replied.
Fred Craddock was echoing what Paul wrote centuries ago. If we can learn contentment while pursuing God’s ways, we won’t be fooled by things that won’t last. Instead, we will be able to adjust to God’s leadership in our lives, whether we have little or much, because we are motivated by something better.
