MAIN POINT

The path to great gain is being content in God not in acquiring wealth.

INTRODUCTION

Watch Session 2: Wealth video by David Platt (32 minutes)

• David started this session with many statistics about world poverty. Which one of these shocked you the most? Why?
• What does it mean to be content? If you were honest, what standard of living do you expect to be content?

By any standard, modern Americans are the wealthiest people who have ever lived. When thousands upon thousands die every day from preventable disease, lack of sustainable food and clean water, living a life of luxury is no longer an option for the Christian. During Jesus’ ministry, He identified with the poorest and most marginalized in society and gave them honor and dignity. We must be content with having necessities and be cautious when acquiring excess. We will take nothing with us when we die, so we live for a future kingdom instead of building a bigger kingdom in this place.

UNDERSTANDING

Read: 1 Timothy 6:6-10

• What did Paul identify as the path to great gain? How is this different than what contemporary culture sees as the path to great gain?
• How would you define “necessities”? How do you think someone in the majority world would define “necessities”? How do we reconcile these two viewpoints?
• What are a few ways you could simplify you standard of living to reach greater contentment in God?
• What language did Paul use to describe the drive and desire to constantly acquire more in verse 9-10? Is this a problem you treat as seriously as Paul did? Why or why not?
• How have you seen money be a destructive force in your own heart and life in the lives of those you know?

Godliness with contentment is great gain. These words from the apostle Paul provide key and crucial insights for how Christians should relate to wealth and possessions in this life. Chances are you are among the wealthiest people who have ever lived. We are tempted all the time to find our contentment in what we own instead of who owns us. The love of money and the desire for riches lead to live of self-destruction and self-mutilation. For followers of Christ, living for more in this life is not an option.

• What are a few ways you could simplify you standard of living to reach greater contentment in God?

Read: 1 Timothy 6:11-19

• How is Jesus Christ described in verse 11-16? How does coming face to face with a God like this make all the riches in the world seem like filthy rags?
• What makes riches uncertain? How do we maintain focus on the giver as opposed to the good gifts He provides?
• Do you think of yourself as rich by your culture’s standards? By the world’s standards? Why or why not?
• According to verse 17-19, how should rich people relate to the gifts God has given them?
• What does it mean to be rich in good works? What kind of foundation does this store up and prepare for us in the world to come?

Our possessions will always let us down at the point we need them the most—when we die. Instead, we have a rich inheritance in Jesus Christ. All believers, regardless of their poverty or wealth in this world, are truly rich. Living in light of those riches causes us to reorient our thinking concerning earthly treasures. God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. All Christians, without exception, should give of their resources to help reach the lost and dying world.

APPLICATION

• How can you better steward what God has given you to radically give to the desperate physical and spiritual needs in the world? What are one or two things you could do differently?
• How should the gospel affect how we relate to the good things God gives? 
• How do we remain appreciative for all the things God gives?
• What is God leading you to share? To sell? To sacrifice?