⁶But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. ⁷For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

So, what good is godliness then? False teachers angle to use it as a stepping stone to some kind of “gain” in their lives. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were the epitome of performing their “righteous” deeds very publicly for the applause of their fellow religionists (see Mark 12:40, Matt. 23:25). To appear to be God-respecting brings advantages in one’s community status as well. The false teachers of Jesus’ time were not the only ones who enjoyed the financial benefits of acting godly. Many through the centuries, and today as well, have become quite wealthy, peddling pious prescriptions for life.

Paul, himself once a Pharisee in his former life, came to see godliness differently after his conversion to Christ: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil. 3:7).

Regenerating faith in Christ transforms the believer’s motivation for everything in life. Godliness does play a part, but not as a means to a fleshly, self-serving end. Paul gets into that in the next few verses, where he addresses money, but we must not miss the critical point he makes here about contentment. The dictionary defines contentment as “to desire no more than what one has, to be satisfied with what one possesses.” More precisely, the Greek word means “the state of having what is adequate, being content with one’s circumstances” (BDAG). Without this, any effort to develop godliness will be fruitless. But with contentment, the sense of sufficiency, there is indeed gain. How ironic! The path to gain is contentment with what one has.

Paul develops this idea by making the interesting case from our entry into the world and our exit from it. None of us began this life with anything we brought with us before the womb. We were born stark naked, with no possessions, clothes, or wealth—nothing. None of us had any control over the circumstances, location, or context of our birth. On the other end of our life on earth, we all die, and at that point, we leave everything behind: our accumulated possessions, clothes, and wealth. So what can we possibly gain that is of any real value?

Yes, there is a significant gain in godliness, but it must be accompanied by contentment. We dare not fall prey to the deceptive teaching that praying, reading our Bibles, and doing good deeds will somehow earn us benefits in this life (whether they be financial, material, social, or even spiritual).

Father, keep reminding me not to seek godliness for my own personal gain.