"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content."
1 Timothy 6:6-8
Look at the face of a child playing with recycled goods as a toy.
Look at the smile of the poor, as they greet you standing before the entrance of their dirt-floored home.
Look at the grateful heart of one who has been given work to eat.
Do you not in some way envy the joy you see in what the world calls, "the least of these"?
Have you not ever wondered why a child with many things seems to only cry out for more, and only enjoys a smile for a moment; yet the one who has so little can wear a smile like the new dress she is imagining in her dreams?
We brought nothing into this life, that is reality, every man was born the same, but we lie to ourselves by the way we live. We act as if we have done something to deserve all that we have around us, as if there is some distinguish between the "least of these" and the "increased of these".
Don't think that is true? Then let me ask, why is it that we cling to things when they are taken from us, we feel robbed when wrong happens to our possessions. It is because we have falsely believed these things to be within our ownership; forgetting that we brought nothing into this life and the certainty that we can take nothing out.
The glimpses of poverty my eyes have beheld and the glimpses of abundance I have lived within has caused my heart to wonder. I wonder why there is such happiness found in places of less, and why complaints seems to ceaselessly echo from those with much. Perhaps the "least of these" are the "blessed of these"?
Contentment.
Not a word, but an attitude that makes the difference.
Contentment appreciates that which it has, and recognizes the truth that nothing belongs to itself.
People with less seem to grasp this concept easier than we who have much. They seem to see everything as a gift: sunshine, breathe, food, clothing; but we seem to see those things as only a base for more to come.
What if we viewed them as the gift and not as the base? What if we appreciated those things, and sought extra comfort in the life to come?
What if we stopped exhausting ourselves with extra things and instead appreciated what we have already been given?
What if we stopped seeking gain, and recognized the gain we have already attained?
Christ knows our hands, and knows that if they are full of earthly things, there will be no room for His eternal gifts.
He seeks that we be filled with His fullness and His blessings. Not that we live with less, but that we live with value.
The life with less sees beauty in the small things. The life with less finds contentment through appreciation.
The life with less sees Christ within as the reality that despite what the day brings, life is eternally blessed.
A child with a simple piece of clothing, and necessary food to sustain, has open arms to run and hug the approaching comer.
This is what Christ is thinking when He exhorts us to live in simplicity. He's thinking of His child being available to run and do, and bear good fruit in the fields of His harvest.
No part of His creation lacks, He supplies for every need. It is our perspective on what is necessary that causes our discontentment.
If we would view life through the eyes of the Creator, I think we would find that less is more and contentment is found in appreciation for what He has given and what He sufficiently gives each day by the undeserved favor His grace has poured upon our lives.
Contentment is found when grace is acknowledged and seen as sufficient for each day of this life, until we reach our true home.
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