Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: 1 Timothy 6

  • Weekly devotional: Habits of the heart (8 in Paul’s letters to Timothy series)

    Rembrandt, public domain

    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. In 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 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who 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 (1 Timothy 6:11–16).

    As Paul brings his letter to conclusion, he warns Timothy not to act as the false teachers, but to “fight the good fight of the faith” (v12). Note his list of spiritual practices for Timothy to embrace – to flee ungodliness, pursue righteousness, take hold of eternal life, keep these commands. We are to live out the gift of life in the kingdom of God every day, employing our wills, minds, and bodies.

    Paul in his other letters often speaks of putting off the old self and embracing the new (see Ephesians 4:22–24, for example), again emphasizing this practice as an active one. Living in the fallen world as we do, and being subject to our sinful nature, we need to put on the new self daily. We may do so through such actions as confession and receiving forgiveness, asking for God’s help in making wise and godly choices, and filling our mind with his words.

    For we know, as Paul says, that our God is the only Ruler, King and Lord, he who is immortal and unapproachable, but he who makes the way clear for us to rest in his love.

    Prayer: Father God, help me shed any of my habits that are unhealthy, that I might live out of my redeemed self.

  • Weekly devotional: Enough (7 in Paul’s letters to Timothy series)

    But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For 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 (1 Timothy 6:6–10).

    Some ask, “How much is enough?” And another will answer, “Just the next deal/conquest/thing to buy.” For the human heart wants and yearns for fulfillment, and when we aren’t seeking God to fill those empty spaces, we’ll look to all sorts of other things to fill the void. Such as money to buy us stuff – for social status, ease of convenience, gratification.

    Note in the text that Paul says that the love of money can lead to evil – not that all money leads to evil, nor that money itself is evil. Rather he’s speaking about the state of people’s hearts, namely what are they desiring. As they plot and plan about acquiring the next best thing, they can find it increasingly difficult to resist temptation, which can lead to ruin. Paul, in contrast, counsels contentment with what we have. After all, we can’t take any of our stuff with us into the next life, and the Lord would have us seek his love, peace, and joy as true riches to share.

    I’ve met people who don’t have many material possessions and yet foster a stingy attitude, and I’ve met people with a lot of money who not only are generous, but don’t seem defined by their worldly wealth. As Paul says, it’s all down to the state of our hearts.

    Over to you. How much is enough?

    Prayer: Father God, we yearn for contentment; we yearn for you. By your Holy Spirit, fill the places in our souls that feel empty and void, that we might desire aright.