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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Through most of chapter 6 of 1 Timothy, we find God’s word offering two main points to all Christian believers:
1. Getting obsessed with the accumulation of wealth is foolishness because nothing you gain here in the world will go with you when you die. You were born naked and with nothing and you won’t take anything with you when life ends.
2. Don’t allow the love of money lead you into sin and evil.
Through the messages on this matter, we have looked at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 6, where we find Him exhorting His followers to store up treasures in Heaven, treasures that hold eternal value, instead of chasing after the treasures of the earth which is code for materialism (Vv. 19-20).
As we return to 1 Timothy 6 and our two verses for today (verses 11 and 12), we find the Apostle Paul revealing life pursuits that are more beneficial for Christian believers, pursuits that will help them store up the treasures in Heaven that Jesus promoted. Look again at his words here:
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
As we have covered earlier, Timothy, the one Paul wrote to, was the pastor of the church in Ephesus. Endorsed by churches in Lystra and Iconium, he joined Paul’s missionary team as a young man and through the mentoring of the apostle, matured to the place where he could minister a congregation on his own.
It’s obvious that a passion for money and riches was prevalent among the Ephesian people and so Paul wanted to address the matter with Timothy so he, in turn, could address it with the Ephesian Christian believers. All would have been considered people of God, His children and co-heirs with Jesus through their belief in Him.
So Paul called His brothers and sisters in Christ to “flee from” any temptations to chase after money and gives them some more positive things to pursue, things we need to go after in life as well today. They included the following:
1. Righteousness.
Simply put, this was a call for right living in the sight of God and that meant (and still means) living in accordance with His will.
Not what we think is right. Not what the world says is right.
No other behavior except that which our Lord has called us to, behaviors that were modeled by Jesus, His Son. As Christians, we are to live Christ-like and we have no better role model for righteous living than Jesus.
Follow Him and mimic His life with your own and you will always be living in a way that honors and glorifies God. Or in other words, your life will be seen as godly in nature, the second beneficial life pursuit.
2. Godliness.
Indeed, righteousness leads to godliness which is a holy life defined by a consistently deep reverence for God, the One who made the way to save us through Jesus, His Son. If we dedicate ourselves to live as Jesus did, we will always respect and worship God through everything we do.
3. Love.
At the heart of the Bible and God’s salvation narrative is the matter of love.
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son Jesus so that whoever believes in Him won’t perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Before His death and resurrection, Jesus responded to a question regarding what was the greatest commandment, offering two responses centered on love.
First, He said we are to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, before adding we’re to then love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).
When we live in righteousness which leads to godliness, we can’t help but see love as central to everything we do. For when we are obedient to the command to love God with all that we are then His love becomes all that we are and is evident in all that we do. And as the old hymn proclaims, they will know we are Christians by our love.
4. Gentleness.
Just as righteousness leads to godliness, so too does love lead to gentleness.
Look at the life of Jesus and you will find a loving Savior who was gentle and compassionate toward others. Many times He could have rebuked with harsh words but instead He spoke words that were kind and tender. We need to follow His lead as we minister to others today and the Holy Spirit will guide us there as we submit to His direction. When we do, we will fulfill the call of God’s word to let our gentleness be evident to everyone (Philippians 4:5).
5. Endurance in faith.
Finally, we find Paul encouraging Timothy, the Ephesian believers, and us today to show endurance in our faith.
Life wasn’t easy as the Christian church was beginning to take root in first century A.D. and it hasn’t been easy for Christians ever since. Believing in Jesus has never been a panacea or escape from the woes of life. Hardship and suffering are as sure as the salvation we will gain at this life’s end and so we had better be prepared to deal with it.
How can we do this?
The scriptures provide the answer for we are called to “fight the good fight of the faith”, understanding that no matter how difficult life becomes, the best is yet to come through the promised eternal life through Jesus. God’s word calls all Christ believers to “take hold” of this salvation promise and never let go of it. For through it, we have a hope that no trial or tribulation can remove from us. When things get hard, look to the cross and remember that things were harder for our Savior and yet, He endured through faith to gain victory, just as we will one day.
The world may want us to show a desire for money and all the possessions it can bring us but if we are obedient to God’s word and focus our life pursuits on righteousness, godliness, love, and gentleness while enduring in faith, we will find the only true beneficial riches come from our Lord who wants to lavish them upon us in abundance.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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