"Godliness with contentment is great gain".We will never find happiness in material goods if make an idol of them. Godliness, ie living a Christlike life, and contentment are the way to go. Paul then states a simple but profound truth. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. There is no point whatsoever in making material goods the goal of our life, it is an approach doomed to failure. Moreover, as Jesus said, a man's life is not made up of his possessions. The world is always trying to get us to take our value from something else, whether it be sexuality or money or status.
So we should have a simple attitude of contentment. If we have enough we should be happy, and some so-called prosperity teachers would do well to dwell on this verse. You see, chasing after money leads us into trouble. It leads us into temptation and into a trap, it leads us to do foolish things, and then afterwards we wonder why on earth we did it.
"The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil". This verse is often misquoted as "money is the root of all evil", or "the love of money is the root of all evil". Nevertheless, the love of money causes all kinds of problems. Indeed, the world economy bears witness to the truth of this. But note that it is not money itself, but the love of money that is the problem. There is nothing wrong with money itself, it is our hearts that we need to watch. If our attitudes are right then money can serve a good purpose. It can be used to help others, to further the work of the gospel, to provide for our needs, and also some luxuries as well. While we must be absolutely clear about the warnings in Scripture about the danger of the love of the money, the Bible is also clear that there is nothing wrong with material things themselves.
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