1 Timothy 6:6-10·~1 min

Godliness with Contentment

Paul says godliness with contentment is great gain, because nothing is brought into the world and nothing can be carried out. If believers have food and clothing, that is enough for contentment.

O⁶f course, godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

Those who want to be rich fall into temptation, foolish desires, ruin, and destruction. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

⁹Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Section summaryPaul says true gain lies in godliness with contentment, since human beings bring nothing into the world and take nothing out. If food and clothing are present, contentment is fitting, but the desire to be rich leads into temptation, ruin, and many griefs. The love of money, he says, sends some wandering from the faith and piercing themselves with sorrow.

Role in the chapterThis section answers false gain with a very different measure of wealth. It links sound doctrine to a posture of contentment and warns how greed corrodes faith.