Paul doesn't tell Timothy that wanting more is simply wrong. He diagnoses it specifically as a trap tied to loving money, not to having needs. And notice the instruction isn't “wait until you feel secure, then pursue godliness.” It's “flee... and pursue,” active verbs given in the middle of the same anxiety about not having enough. The contentment described isn't the absence of want; it's genuinely being at peace with “food and clothing,” a much lower bar than what most of our anxiety is actually organized around. That's uncomfortable, because it means the anxious pursuit of more isn't neutral. Paul frames it as something to flee from, not just an understandable impulse to indulge until circumstances improve.