But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” (Timothy 6:11)
We see so much in the scriptures about ‘not doing’ this or ‘not doing’ that: however, I think Paul has some insight in his letter to Timothy that changes our perspective. In Timothy 6:6-11, Paul told Timothy to pursue contentment and flee from worldly possessions in search of the fruits of the spirit.
When we pursue being content with what we have, we no longer covet or envy or any of the other ‘don’ts’ in scripture. I recently thought about Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4:1-11 and how He sets the example for us on how we defeat temptation. One thing I realized was that Jesus was thinking about His Father, and the Word. He wasn’t focused on the temptations the tempter had for him.
So today, realize that you think about what your thoughts are focused on. Think about being in the presence of Jesus. Think about the Word. This perspective empowers us to be content in who we are in Christ and content with where our Father has placed us in life.