I read through the book of 1 Timothy today, a mentoring letter from Paul to Timothy, the young man he has placed in charge of the church in Ephesus. In chapter 1, Paul writes that the goal of stopping people from teaching false doctrines and promoting controversies is love, coming from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. If I'm not speaking in love, and out of this perspective, then my words are meaningless. How can I teach what I don't know, and what I'm not living out? James 3:1 says, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." Now I don't want to fool myself. Whether or not I call myself a teacher is irrelevant. If I'm teaching others something about God, whatever I call it, this applies to me. That means I need to be very careful to speak, and live, from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. It's OK to question God, He can handle it, but a position of doubt, sin, or disunity is a dangerous place to teach from. Let God teach us His heart, learn from Him, and then if He calls us to we can teach that to others. The importance of having a clear conscience can't be overemphasized. In 1 Timothy 1:19, Paul says that rejecting it leads to a shipwrecked faith... teaching from this position would make us accountable for shipwrecking the faith of others, and that is an extremely dangerous position to be in.
In chapter 2, I see that it pleases God when I pray for others, as He also wants them to be saved and know the truth. I should pray for those in authority, so that we can live peacefully and quietly and still live for God. The emphasis is to live for God if there's a difference between the two, of course, but God is pleased when we can do both, and so we should be praying for those in authority.
Chapter 3 talks about the qualities necessary for leadership in the church, and though I'm not in such a position and don't know whether God will call me to anything of that nature in the future, I would do well to develop those qualities in myself. As I have no wife or children, I will focus on those qualities that I can work on, such as being temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach and gentle, rather than violent, drunk, quarrelsome or loving money.
In chapter 4, Paul talks about the importance of training to be godly, how it has value in this life, and in eternity. He reminds Timothy that marriage is good, and food is good, and everything God created is to be received with thanksgiving, not forbidden. He encourages Timothy to set an example in speech, life, love, faith and purity. I ought to be doing my best to live an exemplary life in these areas as well, to inspire and encourage others to do the same.
In chapter 5, verse 22, I see that just because others do something doesn't make it OK for me. I must remain pure, and not share in others' sins. My guide for what is right must be what God says, not what other people think is OK.
In chapter 6, Paul talks about the dangers of pursuing money. There is temptation, harmful desires, many griefs, and all kinds of evil that stem from the pursuit of money. My focus instead should be righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Overall, I see in this book the importance of holding on to the spiritual truths that I have learned, remaining solid in my faith, and not being moved from it by anything. Living a life based on God's way will be commendable, trying to live any other way will (as I have seen) bring ruin, pain and dire consequences. I choose to live God's way, and allow Him to build me up into the man He has created me to be.
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