13. Why does following the command at 2 Timothy 4:5 add meaning to life?

¹³ Those who live with godly devotion have the treasure of the ministry. (2 Corinthians 4:1, 7; 2 Timothy 4:5) This provides real purpose and challenge. Rather than the pseudo excitement of some fictional TV or movie drama, Christians involved in the ministry visit the homes of real people to help them. They deal also with real problems. What indescribable joy as they see people who have lived immoral, violent, or hopeless lives respond to Bible instruction and put away former bad habits, develop self-respect, and serve Jehovah. No other career is as meaningful or produces such lasting good!

Contentment and a Clean Conscience

14, 15. How does godly contentment as to money make for a better life?

¹⁴ “To be sure, it is a means of great gain, this godly devotion along with self-sufficiency. . . . So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things. However, those who are determined to be rich . . . have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10) In 1981 a survey by Psychology Today revealed that young people think “much more” about money than any other age group. However, half the group of respondents who were most concerned about money (including wealthy and poor) complained of “constant worry and anxiety.”

¹⁵ A young man in Japan succeeded in going from ‘rags to riches,’ but in doing so he damaged his health. Later, with the help of a Bible study, he developed godly devotion. “When I think back to when my chief goal in life was to become wealthy, there is no comparison as to how much happier I’ve been since I changed my goal,” he concludes. “Truly there is nothing that can match the contentment and satisfaction that come with using one’s life in the service of the Grand Creator.”d​—Proverbs 10:22; Ecclesiastes 5:10-12.

20, 21. (a) Relate some of the benefits of godly devotion. (b) What will be considered in the following article?

²⁰ So godly devotion brings you a host of benefits. Your “course of life” takes on a purpose that towers over the goals of those who reach only for material opportunities. (2 Timothy 3:10) As one Christian youth who gave up a college scholarship and became a full-time evangelizer exclaimed: “I have the best career anyone could want, being a teacher of the good news and helping others to learn of our loving Father! And the ‘fringe benefit’​—my own improved personality—​is better than anyone could offer. Add to that the reward of living in a paradise forever with no more sorrows. Now ask: What better life could anyone ever want?”