According To Jesus, All We Need To Be Content Is Food, Covering, And One More Thing...

When I was on staff at a church in the 1970s, we sought to serve widows and orphans. Though they were not all widows, we decided to lean into assisting single parents specifically. I recall one single mother applying for help who requested money for steak dinners on Friday night and weekly violin lessons for her daughter. She labeled these as two basic needs that she had. Many of us were taken back by her request. In her world, steak dinners and violin lessons were what she needed. 

What do we need?

Paul penned in 1 Timothy 6:8, “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:8). What was essential to survival, according to the apostle? Food and covering (protection from the elements, like clothing and a roof). He did not have violin lessons in mind. 

Paul took it a step further when he said that “with these we shall be content.” One translation states, “As long as we have food and clothes, we should be satisfied” (GW). In other words, even if we do not have steak dinners once a week, we can be content (satisfied) as long as we have the necessary protein. This serves as a challenging standard by which to live: be content when basic needs are met. 

Discontent for any other reason should be cause for pause. What is going on inside of us? Reflecting upon the single parent at my former church, I can’t help but ask about what may have been going on inside of her. Since we felt that weekly steak dinners and violin lessons fall into the want category rather than the need, we declined her request. She then turned on us with anger. She believed her want was a need. 

It was during that time that I tried to articulate the distinction between needs and wants. I had wrongly assumed everyone knew the difference. I came up with analogies to help me think correctly about this. I may request a Mercedes so I can drive from my home to work, but what I need is transportation. The bus provides that service just as well. A Mercedes is a want, not a need. I may request a filet mignon for dinner, but what I need is protein. Peanut butter serves that need too. A filet is a want, not a need. 

Jesus Himself urged us to look to our heavenly Father to meet our needs, but those needs refer to the basics. He said in Matthew 6:31, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’”

For Him, when our back is up against the wall, we can trust our heavenly Father to provide what we need. He then said in 6:32, “for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” He repeated what He voiced a few verses earlier in 6:8, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

Needs are real. God intends to meet our needs. 

Can we have too little? Yes, and for this reason we need to ask God to meet our needs. But we can also have too much, and that has inherent dangers. 

Proverbs 30:8–9 reveals a prayer we can pray about having too little but also about having too much. “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (NIV).

Beyond having only what we need financially for food and covering, we learn of one more necessity. 

Jesus challenged Martha with what was necessary when telling her to slow down and not fret about the everyday duties that distracted her from focusing on Him in her life.

Whereas Martha busied herself in the kitchen to serve her guests, including Jesus, she neglected a need that Jesus revealed we all have but can overlook—Him. In Luke 10:42 He said, “Only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” In 10:39 we read, “Mary . . . sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said” (NIV).

When you and I think of our needs, do we think of the need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 3:1; 12:2)? In other words, we have a need to connect and commune with Jesus with the eyes of our heart. Each of us must decide the best way to do this, but to Jesus, we have a need to look and listen to Him, and talk and walk with Him. This is a necessity. 

Yes, we need food and covering, which Paul shared in 1 Timothy 6:8. But the apostle knew all too well how fine the line is that we walk between wants and needs. In verses 9–10, he continued: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 

One cannot help but wonder if Paul had in mind here the previously mentioned Proverbs 30:9, which says, “Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’”

Paul then points us to our third and most important need—Jesus: “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” (6:11–12).

Food and covering can only take care of our bodies, which are “passing away” (1 John 2:17), even if we have steak dinners every weekend in our 5,000 sq ft. mansion. We are more than bodies, though. Every single one of us is an eternal soul. And what our soul needs is Jesus. He is our deepest need.