1 Timothy 6
1All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. 2Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
Love of Money
3If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Paul's Charge to Timothy
11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight 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. 13In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
20Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.
Grace be with you.
3 comments:
1 Tim 6:
Quite the charge, that Paul has left Tim with:
11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight 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.
I LOVE verse 12. "Take hold of the eternal life which you were called..." Being a Christian, being saved by Christ, believing in Christ's death, resurrection and the fact that he's alive are for the most part passive. With the exception of actively believing in Christ's resurrection, most of being a Christian is too often just that, being. But here Paul charges Tim (and us) to be great, to take hold of our eternal lives. To step forth and be active, to make a difference. We've earned it by believing, yes, but God has given us a chance to be like his Son, to be eternal members of His family, and we are. By taking hold, we move out of the passive, letting this world happen to us, knowing we have another world waiting for us, and we move into the active, changing this world to be more the way God wants it. How can we do this in our lives? What can you do today with just a little more vigor for God, knowing that you have the ultimate gift? To me, and I may be reading into it with a slightly different perspective, this is one of the all-time great halftime speeches by Paul. Okay, we've lived the first "half" of our life fighting our way, living for us, being of this world, so think what amazing things we can go do if we truly "take hold" of those things that God wants us to go do for Him!
Father, thank You for our gift of eternal life, thank You for sending Your message through those like Paul who could share it with us. Thank You for the encouragement this day and each day that we can strive for greatness on Your terms. Please lift up each of these brothers today to do great things, and to do good, that we may leave Your stamp on this world today. In the name of Your amazing son, Jesus,
Amen
crb
this is definitely a good passage for me to return to on a regular basis. I struggle wanting to have more riches. I dont think i am greedy nor do i obsess about it nor do i go around saying i wish or i want that big house/car, etc, but i definitely let finances, or the lack thereof, weigh on me. Sometimes my fiance and i argue about finances. I dont always think she understands the "economics of life" as i call it. But, after i read passages like this, i feel guilty like i am the one lacking Trust that God will provide. I often refer to the Prayer of Jabez asking God to expand my territory for His kingodms sake. And i think that is really the key...whatever we have in terms of "riches" and this doenst just mean financial, we must be willing to give/share/let go of for His sake.
Father, i pray that you would bless each one of us with wisdom and trust as it relates to our finances. Change our hearts so that we are joyful in our giving. Let us remember that our giving is a way of exemplifying Love, which is what you want us to do. Expand our territory ONLY for your name's sake. Amen.
1 Tim 6
You guys both make some excellent points. I really like crb's analogy to the halftime speech and really think we need those quite often really. Especially someone like myself who has tendencies to fall back my old ways of relying on myself as well as being an approval seeker. Anytime I can get a gentle or not so gentle nudge, the better probably. timmcd, I also think you bring up some very interesting points as well. I also find these verses useful in helping remember how to keep things in perspective. I agree that it is critically important that you have recognized and admitted that financial things can get you (and me too) off track at times. It may sound cliché, but admission is the first step to recovery. I think you nailed it when you said we need to learn to trust in our Heavenly Father. Granted, I think we need to turn to Him in prayer about these things and be diligent about them, but we also need to realize that by us trying to control every situation, we may not be trusting in Him.
Father, help us to learn complete and total trust in you. It certainly may be more difficult for me than others Father. Thank you for these men and the opportunity to share our thoughts and feelings. Let our words encourage each other and bring us closer to you.
IN Christ,
cas
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