Faith!

# 42 2019 Devotion, 1 Tim. 6:11,12. Faith!  Read all of chapter 6 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

1 Timothy 6:11,12 “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith.” 

Paul ends this chapter with a warning about false teachers and a final charge to Timothy. Apparently there were unscrupulous persons trying to exploit the new Christians for financial gain. “⁴ they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions”. 

Unfortunately, since the beginning of Christianity, well meaning people have had “an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions”, all in the name of orthodoxy. Over the years, religious controversies have caused much pain and major disruption of relationships to the point that today, we have close to thirty thousand different denominations in our world. The only upside of this dark side of religion is that many more people are attracted to churches that cater to their beliefs.

Paul gives us a different motivation: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” The answer to all this disruption is the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives if in fact we listen to His guidance. Paul says: “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith.” This advice is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22,23).

Therefore, trust Jesus as the “King of kings”, do not put your “hope in wealth”, but “be rich in good deeds”, “be generous and willing to share”, “so that they (we) may take hold of life that is truly life”.

The bottom line for followers of Jesus: “guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, ²¹ which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.”

“Grace be with you all.”

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