As promised in my post summarizing the Contentment Bible study, here is your free e-book to download and share with anyone you like. In addition, the “Contentment is Wealth” e-book is 52 pages including the title page and table of contents. I even added some questions for reflection. You’re definitely getting your money’s worth here, folks! Click the picture of the e-book below to download the PDF file. Let me know what you think in the comments!!!
This post is a short summary of the Personal Finance Bible Study on Contentment. It contains links to all the articles in this Bible study. You can also read about Bible verses on contentment here.
The World’s Message
The World’s Message
The Problem with the World’s Message
The Solution to the Problem
In the first three parts of this Bible study on Contentment, we looked at the World’s message. “If we get more of the stuff the World has to offer, we’ll be happy and satisfied.” We then looked at the problem with the World’s message—it keeps us from serving God, and it has no eternal reward. Finally, we looked at the solution to this problem—giving God our hearts and allowing Jesus to fully live through us.
Getting God’s View
Getting God’s View (Part 1)
Getting God’s View (Part 2)
Getting God’s View (Part 3)
In the next three parts, we looked at God’s View of the world, money, and our lives so we can focus on serving Him instead of serving Money. First, our focus on the Things of This World keeps us from seeing the importance of love and relationships. This keeps us from fully serving God. Second, we must focus on storing up treasures in heaven rather than on Earth because that will show whether our hearts belong to God or Money. If we let the concerns of this life take priority over the concerns of eternal life, we will be unfruitful. Finally, we learned that everything belongs to God. And even though these ideas go against our human nature, it’s not worth gaining the whole world (being rich) if we end up losing our souls.
Practical Applications
Practical Applications (Part 1)
Practical Applications (Part 2)
Practical Applications (Part 3)
Practical Applications (Part 4)
The next four sections are about the practical applications of God’s View and Contentment in our lives. First, we looked at how we should focus on God instead of being worried about our Earthly lives. This means we’re more worried about doing good and showing love than earning money and gaining wealth. We also learned that if we follow Jesus’ teaching we will receive a great reward (though probably not monetary). Second, we learned that we don’t have to be concerned about our needs because God has promised to always be with us. Third, we looked at how we should react in all circumstances and the importance of asking God for our daily bread—just enough. Finally, we learned that we shouldn’t wear ourselves out trying to get rich. And if we are rich, we should be very generous and doing good so that we don’t trust in Money but in God alone.
The Results
The Results (Part 1)
The Results (Part 2)
In the last two sections, we looked at the results of God’s Contentment in our lives. First, we learned that we will delight God, really enjoy life, and always have God as our strong tower—our protector. Then, we learned that God’s Contentment will teach us the secret to happiness in all circumstances and will bring us greater wealth than we can imagine.
Free E-book
I’ve compiled all of these lessons into a free e-book for anyone to download. I also added some questions at the end of each lesson to help you reflect on the reading. Feel free to share it with family, friends, church members, and anyone else you want. Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!
Today’s Personal Finance Bible Scripture comes from Proverbs 21:17.
17 Those who love pleasure become poor;
those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.Proverbs 21:17 (NLT)
Think the Bible doesn’t have relevant financial advice? Consider that verse one more time. Personal finance experts generally agree that avoiding hard work and buying things you can’t really afford will never lead to financial success. (And by afford I mean that you can still cover all your necessary expenses and save for all of your goals after purchasing your luxury item.) Even though this little bit of wisdom seems like it should be common sense, God wanted to emphasize it in Proverbs as well. I’m guessing it must be pretty important! 😉
It’s not that God doesn’t want us to have any enjoyment in this life. You really have to look closer at what that verse says. If you love pleasure and luxury, you’re probably not putting God first in your life. As I’ve discussed many times before, God wants your heart and if your heart belongs to something else then you can’t serve Him. It’s fine to enjoy the good things in life, but make sure you have a wise (God’s) definition of the “good” things in life and make sure you put God above all else. That’s the only way you can truly be rich.
In the last part of this series, we started talking about the results of following God’s teaching on contentment. How will contentment benefit you, and what kind of effects will it have on your life? We’ll finish that discussion and this entire series on contentment today.
Paul speaks about contentment in two specific ways that clearly show the results of being content. First, he talks of facing every situation with contentment. Second, he discusses how contentment brings great gain and saves us from many sorrows.
The Secret to Happiness
In Philippians 4:10-14, Paul thanks the church at Philipi for the gifts they gave him. He explains that he’s not trying to get them to give more, since he has never been in need because he’s learned to be content in any situation through God’s strength. But he thanks them just the same.
10 But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. 12 I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. 13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 14 However, you did well that you shared in my affliction.
Philippians 4:10-14 (WEB)
These verses highlight the striking difference between God’s kind of contentment and the world’s kind of contentment. We generally view contentment and happiness as something we get after some certain requirements are met.
From the world’s perspective, contentment is almost always something that comes in the future. But the contentment God wants to give us is for the past, present, and future. It’s not for just the good times but the bad also. God’s contentment brings us happiness and peace in any situation. The world’s contentment only happens when everything’s turning up roses.
How is it possible that we can learn to be content in any and every situation that comes our way? How can we possibly be content if we have to drive a beat up, old car to a dead-end job just so we can pay the rent on our drafty apartment? And that’s where we make our first mistake. We don’t have to do anything. God has already handled it all for us.
All we really have to do is realize two simple things. First, there is nothing worthwhile that the world can offer us when compared to the blessings God has already given us. We have eternal life in Christ. What does it matter if we’re not wearing Armani suits and driving BMWs while we’re here on Earth? Second, Christ will give us the strength we need to make it through any situation we encounter—we are not alone in our struggles. We can be happy in every circumstance because God is with us and our standing in this life does not matter in our eternal life.
Contentment Is Wealth
The next passage I want to look at is 1 Timothy 6:3-16. Paul is speaking to Timothy here, giving him instructions on how to lead a godly life and teach others the way as well.
3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn’t consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, 4 he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions, 5 constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. 8 But having food and clothing, we will be content with that.
9 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. 13 I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession, 14 that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 15 which in its own times he will show, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:3-16 (WEB)
This is a clear message against the “Prosperity Gospel” that’s so prevalent today and was apparently widespread in the time of the early Church as well. So many people see God as a means to get rich in this life by preying on others, and they preach that God will bless us with material wealth if we’ll just call in right now and give them some money for “God’s work”. Others preach that God will bless us abundantly if we give more money to our church, or that we can’t really receive God’s full blessing unless we’re giving a full tithe (ten percent) to our church.
But you see, God is not so much concerned about whether we’re blessed in our earthly life. He wants to see us blessed in our eternal life. God has already blessed us abundantly by giving us His Son so that we can live with Him in Heaven. How much money we have or how comfortable we are here on Earth matters very little when we bring eternity into the picture.
And God has abolished these rules of “you do this, and I’ll give you that”. For those who are living in Jesus Christ, there is no law saying we must give 10% of our income to the church. We try to impose rules and laws for God and end up missing the entire point. When Christ came and taught the Jews, he spoke with authority about the laws of Moses. What did He teach? That God doesn’t just want us to meet some minimums and go home from church thinking we’re good to go for the next week. No, when Jesus taught about the laws he told us to do much more than the laws tell us to do. We’re supposed to go above and beyond the expectations we think we’re supposed to meet. So while I’m in no way against giving generously to your church or the needy, I am 100% against teaching Christians that the tithe is a requirement they must all meet. But we’ll look at this more when we discuss giving.
We also see here the famously misquoted scripture about money being the root of all kinds of evil. People often leave out the “love of” part, thus changing the meaning dramatically. Money in and of itself is not evil—it is just a thing, a tool to be used. But the love of money takes our focus off God and leads us into all kinds of evil things. Again, it comes back to whether or not our hearts belong to God. If our hearts belong to God, we will serve and glorify Him in all things. If they belong to money, we will never be able to please God and will always be led astray. Paul tells Timothy, and all Christians, to run from all these evil things and not let the love of money take over our lives.
I’ve gotten sidetracked a bit, but those were important points. What this passage means for the results of contentment lies in verses six through ten. Godliness is not a means to financial gain, but true godliness with God’s contentment provides us with great wealth. First, we receive spiritual wealth because contentment allows us to remain focused on God and ignore worldly materialism.
Second, we receive great material wealth through contentment because we’ll “need” less. When we are content and need less “stuff”, we don’t need to be as rich or make as much money to be happy. That is to say, we don’t have to be as focused on making money or building wealth if we can be happy living on $25,000/year versus $50,000 or $75,000/year. Once we learn to be content in any situation through God’s strength, what used to seem like so little becomes great wealth because we just don’t need as much. Despite what numerous websites and scammers may claim, the best way to get rich quick is to be content.
The point is this: contentment and godliness together give us great gain because we will be blessed spiritually by being more focused on God and materially because we’ll just “need” less of the world’s “stuff”. Though it’s strange to hear and difficult to believe (from a worldly perspective), learning to be content with whatever situation you’re in by relying on God can make you richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet combined.
Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!
Today’s Personal Finance Bible Scripture comes from 1 Timothy 6:17-19.
17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NLT)
I’ve lived my entire life in America, and I’ve only visited one other country (Haiti). But I know how amazingly blessed I am to have been born in a country where prosperity abounds. Even the poor in America are richer than most people in the rest of the world, yet we generally take our wealth for granted and tend to trust in it too much.
Are you a Christian living in America (or a wealthy or prosperous Christian in any country)? I encourage you to meditate on this verse for the next week. How is God speaking to you through His Word? Do you trust in money more than God? Do you truly believe God provides everything you need? Where are you storing your treasures?
Let’s try to make sure we don’t get so caught up in the riches of this world that we miss out on true life.
Poverty has been on my mind for some time now. What is poverty? How do we measure it? How do you overcome it? How do you live in it? Each of these questions (and more) warrants a post or several posts of its own. But that last one is what I want to talk about today.
I’ve been wondering what it would look like if my wife, Michelle, and I had to live in poverty. What would we have to give up? What would we spend our money on? What would life look like living in poverty?
In this case, I’m going to define poverty according to the 2009 U.S. federal poverty level guidelines. For two people, the poverty level is $14,570/year. This level applies regardless of where you live in the U.S., which doesn’t make much sense to me since the cost of living varies so much by location. But perhaps the areas with a higher-than-average cost of living adjusts the poverty level guidelines for their assistance programs. That’s something I’ll have to look at in another post!
I could use a different measure for poverty – a global measure, for instance. But the disparity between the global poverty level guidelines and the U.S. poverty level guidelines is extreme. Based on a $2/day/person poverty guideline (World Bank threshold), we’d be looking at $1,460 or 1/10 of the income for the U.S. poverty level. I can tell you right now that would mean giving up everything except food. No shelter, no transportation, no clothing purchases – absolutely nothing but food…and not much of that.
So for this article, I’m going to use the federal guideline of $14,570/year which is pre-tax. I’m not going to include food stamps, federal/state health coverage, or tax refunds (namely, the Earned Income Credit). Some studies have shown that the poverty level income would be 30-40% higher if such benefits were included, but I’m going to stick to the $14,570 number for the sake of simplicity.
If our annual income were $14,570, our monthly income would be just over $1,214. Here’s what I think our monthly budget would look like. Some of these numbers are based on actual expenses now and some are based on what I estimated after making changes to our lifestyle. I’m assuming we keep our current jobs.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Income | $1,214.17 |
| Giving | $130.00 |
| Saving | $106.70 |
| State & Local Taxes | $39.46 |
| Health Insurance | $76.93 |
| Rent | $400.00 |
| Renter’s Insurance | $11.08 |
| Groceries | $150.00 |
| Utilities | $120.00 |
| Auto (Gas, Maint., & Ins.) | $130.00 |
| Other (Household & Personal) | $50.00 |
| Total Expenses | $1,214.17 |
So the next question is how would this differ from our current lifestyle? Well, first we’d have to move. We’d have to find a place for 2/3 of the rent we’re paying now, and it would need to be closer to Michelle’s job to cut down on gasoline costs. A different place would also likely cut down on our utilities. This would be a major change since we’d have to move away from our family, friends, and church but not very far – just far enough to make it inconvenient but doable. We’d also likely be living in someone’s basement or sharing a place with another family for rent that cheap.
We’d have to give up the excellent health insurance we have through Michelle’s work and buy a no-frills $10,000 deductible plan that doesn’t cover office visits or prescriptions. It would only cover serious catastrophes like cancer. In contrast, our current insurance has a very low deductible ($150/$300, I think?) and covers office visits and prescriptions for a low co-pay. We’d also be giving up our dental insurance, though I’m not sure that’s much of a deal anyway.
Speaking of insurance, we’d have to decrease the coverage on our auto insurance to the state minimum levels and increase the deductible on Michelle’s car to $2,500. We’d also have to think about selling my car but that wouldn’t be completely necessary. Decreasing the coverage limits could expose us to some serious risks if we were to have an accident – likely resulting in bankruptcy if it’s a major accident.
I don’t mind that we’d be paying less in taxes. But our giving would have to go down and that wouldn’t be so great. We’d have to make some tough choices there. All of our saving would most likely be short-term savings to cover the deductibles for our insurance policies.
We’d have to spend less on groceries but not much less than we currently spend. I don’t imagine there would be any problems there. We’d just have to limit our meat intake and replace it with beans instead and shop a little more carefully. Eating out would be out of the question. We’d also need to cut our household and personal spending in half.
Beyond that, we’d have no cell phones, no Internet connection, and no TV (that last one’s not any different from now, but I’m just saying). We wouldn’t be able to pay my student loans unless we gave up saving or giving (or some of both), but forbearance or an income dependent plan would be an option at that point. We’d have no money for entertainment or travel of any kind, and every dollar would need to be meticulously tracked and spent with care. As it is now, I don’t track what we spend our ATM withdrawals on completely so that would have to change.
So while it wouldn’t be easy or “fun” to live on this budget, it would be possible. But we’d have no chance of saving anything for retirement, buying a house if we wanted to do that, or doing anything that required money outside of this budget. (That means no more sewing or jewelry making for Michelle. My hobbies don’t really require any money right now I think.)
I didn’t include government benefits in that budget, but if I had things would have worked out quite a bit better. Between Section 8 housing, tax refunds, food stamps, health coverage from Pennsylvania, and utility assistance programs I think we could live at pretty much the same standard we currently enjoy. (Except for the housing part…that would likely be a major decline.)
These benefits would probably comprise at least 25-40% of our budget in this scenario. At that rate, we could probably afford cell phones, an Internet connection, auto insurance at our current coverage, our normal household and personal spending, my student loans, and even some entertainment. Or we could choose to save that money, invest in ourselves (to increase our income), or give to people in more need than ourselves.
I’m not making light of this scenario. I’m certain it would still be stressful and emotionally draining, but it wouldn’t be impossible to live this way. (Though I’m having difficulty convincing Michelle of this. :))
I think the reason I can say this is because Michelle and I are pretty content. We don’t have to have the latest gadgets or fashions. We are naturally frugal people who don’t enjoy spending tons of money. We have low-key hobbies, can entertain ourselves, and know how to cook. We’re also disciplined enough to say no to ourselves on the non-essentials. All these factors combine to make it easier for us to live on less than most people in America. (I don’t say this to boast but to simply point out facts. Many people get sucked into the culture and go with the flow without question. Neither Michelle nor I have ever been ones to follow the crowd.)
I’m thankful we’re in a situation where we don’t have to make these choices. God has blessed us with all that we need and then some. But I struggled with creating a sample budget for this scenario, and I now have a slight understanding some of the choices people are forced to make when they’re living on so little. I say slight understanding because I don’t think you can truly comprehend what it’s like to live on that kind of income until you’ve done it.
Do you think you could live at the federal poverty level? What would have to change for you? What would you have to give up? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
In the last part of this series, we finished talking about practical applications when we take on God’s View of the World, Money, and our lives. We looked at how we should act and what we should do when we take on God’s View and live out His will. Today, we’ll start talking about the results of following God’s teaching on contentment. How will contentment benefit you, and what kind of effects will it have on your life?
Delighting God
When our focus is no longer on wealth and material things but fully centered on God, we can begin to please Him. It’s amazing to think that despite our weaknesses and shortcomings we can still manage to please the Creator of the entire universe by simply learning to be content and centering our lives around Him.
23 Thus says Yahweh,
“Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
don’t let the rich man glory in his riches;24 but let him who glories glory in this,
that he has understanding, and knows me,
that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness,
justice, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight,” says Yahweh.Jeremiah 9:23-24 (WEB)
It’s nearly unthinkable that we can delight God, but we really can delight Him when we talk more about His goodness and our relationship with Him than our wealth or accomplishments.
Enjoying Life
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon experiences all the things the world tells us will make us happy—power, wealth, and pleasure. He reflects on his experience and realizes all the things the world recommends are quite meaningless. He also reflects on what he sees in the world, and most of his learning about the best things in life is summed up by Ecclesiastes 8:15.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (WEB)
Now, Solomon is not recommending that we all “eat, drink, and be merry” as the world understands it. He’s commending the enjoyment of life, which is really what contentment boils down to. When we’re content in any situation and learn to value God and His ways above all else, we can find true joy in life that will stay with us always.
The joy of contentment in God can keep us happy and optimistic no matter what happens to us because it’s founded on Him. The eternal power and truth of God can overcome any situation, allowing us to fully enjoy life and realize our blessings even in the worst circumstances. And learning to be content in every situation can give us joy that lasts throughout our entire lives—unlike wealth, which is so uncertain and may not last through tomorrow.
A Strong Tower
Throughout the Bible, we see a continual reference to God as a strong tower and mighty fortress. He protects those who trust in Him, and His strength overcomes all obstacles. When we are content with God’s provision, blessing, and His gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, we have the ultimate protection from any worldly disaster. Poverty, sickness, economic depressions, death, stock market crashes, natural disasters, job loss—none of them can hurt us because we will always have eternal life in Jesus. Despite what the world says, it just doesn’t matter what happens to us in this life. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of Jesus.
Do I mean that God will protect us from all these things? Not at all. Terrible things happen to Christians all the time and they really test our faith. But if we weigh the worst tragedy against the fact that we have been saved by Christ, we’ll always see that we are truly blessed. God keeps us safe through all things because He has given us eternal security through Jesus. Wealth can never do that.
10 The name of Yahweh is a strong tower:
the righteous run to him, and are safe.11 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.Proverbs 18:10-11 (WEB)
We like to imagine wealth will protect us from all the bad things in life and give us access to all the good things in life. What we don’t realize is that we are just imagining that it can do all those things. Wealth can only protect you so much, and it can only give you the things that the world says are good. But there’s no guarantee that your wealth will be there when you really need it.
There is only one guarantee, and there’s only one way we can find true safety in life. Trusting in God and finding contentment in what He’s blessed us with—whether little or much—will provide us with a strong tower capable of withstanding anything that might come our way. Contentment in God gives us joy that lasts as long as we live rather than a little pleasure for a fleeting moment.
The truth is that money and things can never give us the happiness and security we’re seeking. God has already given us all the happiness and joy we could ever need—we just need to look at our lives through His eyes. Once we start doing that, we’ll see how truly rich we already are.
Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!
