Luther “Do you want to have something to boast about? Practice godliness with contentment.”[1]
Something to boast or talk about. Most people have a need to “be” without being you are only human but if you have something to say or do you become a human being. Listen to the people around you: people talk about other people. Social media posts or tweets ask to like them or share their postings respond to them or be dropped from the feed. Being content with what we have isn’t part of the human way of thinking.
Humans need to be able to talk about or do something to know that they are (worth something) being.
In the movie Lady and the Tramp while Lady was in the pound a dog says, “Miserable loves more miserable than miserable is happy” In this life without Christ this saying is true, but with Christ we have a promise of salvation and a place in Heaven with the Father.
Yes, there are those who even dare to prefer this miserable existence to yonder life and become exasperated at the thought that they were created for immortality[2]. – Luther–
[1] Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 28: 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 15, Lectures on 1 Timothy. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 28, p. 370). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
[2] Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 13: Selected Psalms II. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 13, p. 124). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.