Overview
This key verse must be read in the context of verses 3-10. In 3-5 Paul refers to false teachers who promote their own words over the "wholesome words...of our Lord Jesus Christ". These words of Christ promote "godliness", but the words of the false teachers produce "envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions..." Their "wranglings" come from a "corrupt mind", totally bankrupt of truth. Their motivation is simply described: money — they suppose that "godliness is a means of gain."
In verses 9 and 10, Paul describes the peril of those "who desire to be rich" (and the context is that of seeking gain through ministry). Eagerness for money has led some from near-truth to half-truth to no truth — and brought upon themselves "many griefs". They may have achieved their financial goals, but their relationships have soured and their lives are empty. Covetousness, like pride, is a spiritual cancer that voraciously destroys life from the inside; it rules and it kills.
The only cure for this cancer is contentment. Francis Shaeffer, in his book "True Spirituality", says that covetousness is a lack of "proper contentment". To the extent that we are content, we are free.
Add contentment to godliness and you've got a powerful combination. Trusting God, obeying His Word, and loving (rather than envying) your neighbour makes you spiritually and morally indestructible. It's the only "gain" worth pursuing.
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