contentment

⁵Let your behavior be without avarice; be content with what you are offered. For he himself has said, “I will not abandon you, and I will not neglect you.”

¹¹I am not saying this as if out of need. For I have learned that, in whatever state I am, it is sufficient. ¹²I know how to be humbled, and I know how to abound. I am prepared for anything, anywhere: either to be full or to be hungry, either to have abundance or to endure scarcity. ¹³Everything is possible in him who has strengthened me.

⁶But piety with sufficiency is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into this world, and there is no doubt that we can take nothing away. ⁸But, having nourishment and some kind of covering, we should be content with these.

¹⁵So he said to them: “Be cautious and wary of all avarice. For a person’s life is not found in the abundance of the things that he possesses.”

⁶But piety with sufficiency is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into this world, and there is no doubt that we can take nothing away. ⁸But, having nourishment and some kind of covering, we should be content with these. ⁹For those who want to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil and into many useless and harmful desires, which submerge men in destruction and in perdition. ¹⁰For desire is the root of all evils. Some persons, hungering in this way, have strayed from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. ¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and truly pursue justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness.

⁶But piety with sufficiency is great gain.

³³Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you as well.

¹⁰Because of this, I am pleased in my infirmity: in reproaches, in difficulties, in persecutions, in distresses, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.

¹⁹And may my God fulfill all your desires, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

³The old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we have hoped in you.

³Hope in the Lord and do good, and dwell in the land, and so you shall be pastured with its riches. ⁴Delight in the Lord, and he will grant to you the petitions of your heart. ⁵Reveal your way to the Lord, and hope in him, and he will accomplish it.

¹¹I am not saying this as if out of need. For I have learned that, in whatever state I am, it is sufficient.

¹⁷However, let each one walk just as the Lord has distributed to him, each one just as God has called him. And thus do I teach in all the churches.

²⁵And so I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat, nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?