But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
Paul has just said that we came into the world with nothing and will leave with nothing. Now he names what a Christian may treat as enough. The question is not how little a person can survive on. It is what a believer's heart is meant to want.
The words themselves
The two nouns cover more than they first seem to. Commentators also differ over the last clause: one reads it as a future statement rather than a command, while others read it as an appeal — let us be content with that.
William KellyThe words translated food and covering are both plural. That may point to the variety God provides in each case. The "covering" is also not limited to clothing, and should not be translated that way, since it takes in a dwelling as well. The future tense seems stronger here than a command, and it suits the passive voice better.
Why the list stops there
Nothing we own is really ours to keep. We hold it for a while, then we leave it.
F. B. HoleWe have to recognise that we are only life tenants of all we have. We entered the world with nothing; we go out with nothing. God may indeed give us much for our enjoyment. But on the other hand we should be content with just the necessities of life — food and clothing. This sets a high standard before us, one that few of us come up to, though the apostle himself did.
The measure is set low enough that no one is shut out of it.
Hamilton SmithHaving food and covering — and the slave had these things — let us be content with that.
A stranger's allowance
One writer noticed that God sets the same measure for two very different people.
J. G. BellettThe Lord said what a stranger was to expect. Through Paul, the Holy Spirit says what a saint should expect. The two are the same. Deuteronomy 10:18; 1 Timothy 6:8.
The way out of a snare
The next verse warns that those who want to be rich fall into a trap. This verse is the door out of it.
J. N. DarbyIn 1 Timothy 6:9 we read: "Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." This is God's moral grouping. This is what His mind ties to the commonest of all desires — the desire to be rich. And His path of escape is this: "But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."
Where the contentment comes from
Contentment does not come from lowering what you want. It comes from having something better.
G. V. WigramWhen a saint truly enjoys Christ, a thousand little things quietly drop away: having food and clothing, he is content with that. If my spirit is always occupied with the Lord as my portion, I shall be satisfied.
It also rests on trust in a Father's care. What He holds back would have harmed us.
J. T. MawsonEarthly possessions are like that polished knife. If someone else has them, it is so they may use them for the glory of God. If they are kept beyond your reach, it is because they would hurt you if you had them. Let your heart be happy and contented then, for God, who is your Father, knows what is best for you.
Not a rule against having things
The verse does not ban property. It asks what your possessions are for.
VariousThere is nothing wrong in having this or that. The point is that the servant of God wants to be as free as possible to serve his Master as well as he can… It has been well said: "If our business or our possessions are our object, we make them as large as we can. If they are our burden, which we have to carry, we make them as small as we can."
Summary
- Nothing in, nothing out. We are life tenants, not owners; that fact, not poverty, is what sets the limit at food and covering.
- Enough is defined. "Covering" reaches past clothes to shelter. Both words are plural — God's provision has variety in it.
- Enough is reachable. The standard was already met in a slave's life, so no believer is shut out of contentment by circumstances.
- Enough is the escape. Contentment with the necessities is God's own way out of the snare that traps those who want to be rich.
- Enough rests on a Person. The satisfied heart is busy with Christ as its portion. It trusts that a Father holds back only what would wound.