Posts that reference the book of 1 Timothy

1 Tim

Stressed Out

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Stress, anxiety, and worry are all inescapable facts of life. But you might have already guessed, stress is complex, and it can actually benefit us. In fact, we’ll look at good stress (eustress) recognizing distress (bad stress) and Biblical strategies for dealing with all of it.

Understanding Eustress

Eustress is the positive stress that challenges us and helps us grow. For example, you may challenge yourself to run a half marathon and commit to the training. Or you may decide you want to learn Spanish, so you take on the challenge of the class, learning the vocabulary, and passing the tests.

Put in the framework of your Christian life, you make take a step of faith and agree to teach or lead a small group. You may go through a crisis like a job loss that forces reliance on God, and you see that He proves faithful to His word.

All of these things cause varying degrees of stress and anxiety. There may be frustration and even thoughts of giving up. However, sticking with it, accomplishing the goal or looking back, we can see how God was working and how we’ve grown as a result of the challenge.

This is the kind of stress James has in mind when he said:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Notice all the benefits of getting through the eustress: Steadfastness, perfection (that means maturity, more that being perfect), completeness, lacking nothing. In other words, you become more unshakeable in you faith and your commitment to Jesus Christ. You are matured, experienced, wise. You are no longer a novice. Admittedly that’s a good feeling. Eustress is worth it.

Recognizing Distress

Distress, on the other hand, is the negative stress that can weigh us down and lead to anxiety and worry. It’s the type we feel where we’re afraid of failure, or when there’s family tension.

In your Christian life, it may show us as questioning God’s promises, wondering when (or if) He’s going to intervene. It may include things like watching the evening news and coming away with lingering concern about the way the world is going.

The key distinguishing factor with distress is that it lingers and it has negative impacts. If it’s on your mind constantly, if you lose sleep, if you recognize that you’re short-tempered and cynical, you may be feeling distress.

Scripture tells us that kind of stress is hard on us.

Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad. Proverbs 12:25

The verse has the idea of weighing the heart down with burdens. If you’ve experienced that kind of stress, you can identify with the heaviness that comes with it. But this verse also hints at the solution.

Balancing and Managing Stress

If you are feeling stress, take some time to figure out if it’s eustress or distress. If it’s the good kind you can agree with Paul

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,” 1 Timothy 1:12

The good stress is there because God counted you faithful. He’s guiding you into a deeper relationship with Him. Keep your eyes on Him and embrace the challenge.

But if it’s bad stress, we can lean on some other words from Paul. Philippians 4:6 instructs us to rely on prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Prayer includes any and all communication with God. Supplications are the requests we make and petitions we submit. Thanksgiving underscores the attitude we bring. It is an attitude of humility and dependence, recognizing the need for God to intervene.

This is key advice because we have a natural tendency to withdraw when threatened. We need the opposite. We need to keep the communication lines open with God. Further, 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us that God cares about us and about the concerns we have. One of my favorite Scriptures in times of distress is Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

Don’t be afraid.
God is with you, not watching from a distance.
Don’t be dismayed. There is hope.
God says, “I am your God.” That is amazing. Think about that one for a minute.
He will strengthen you.
He will help you.
He will uphold you. That means He will give you the support and strength to stand.
His righteous right hand means He will bring His moral authority into the situation.

Stress is real. It is hard, but as believers, we don’t have to face it alone. Good stress, eustress helps us grow. Bad stress drives us to God. The key is not to let stress drive us to despair.

Peter’s Building Blocks: Love

By Paula Wiseman

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 2 Peter 1:5-7

We’ve been through a lot of blocks
Each one challenging us,
Calling us to be more like Christ
In our actions and attitudes.

The final block is love.
The Greek is agape.
It is sacrificial love.
The 1 Corinthians 13 kind.

This love makes allowances for mistakes and weaknesses.
It is willing to face problems when they come.
It is affirming and loyal.

It is the virtue that sums up all the others (Col 3:14)
It is the goal of all Biblical instruction (1 Tim 1:5)
It is the most excellent way (1 Cor 12:31-13:13)

It is not hypocritical (Rom 12:9)
It builds up (1 Cor 8:1)
It serves others (Gal 5:13)

It is the love God showed to us.

Peter’s Building Blocks: Perseverance

By Paula Wiseman

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 2 Peter 1:5-6

Perseverance.
Endurance.
Patience.
Steadfastness.

In hard times.
Lean times.
Times of aggravation and oppression.
Times of suffering and uncertainty.

It is hupomone.
It is looking beyond the present.
It is knowing the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18).

It is resisting temptation.
Standing strong in the face of opposition or threats.
It is not backing down or slinking away.

Perseverance is clinging to God’s sovereignty and His justice.
It is following Christ’s example.

“[W]ho for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Bottom line: Persevere
Keep doing what you’re doing (1 Cor. 4:12).
He will give you the strength (Phil 4:13).
Don’t grow weary (Heb. 12:3).
It is worth it (1 Timothy 4:10).

Sound Mind Theology: Fairness and Control

By Paula Wiseman

Since the Fall we have struggled not only with the content of our thoughts but the process as well. Yes, even the very way we size up situations and apply knowledge and experience to them is tainted by sin. In other words, we are constantly plagued by fallacies and cognitive distortions. Last time we reviewed three distortions that are interrelated — minimizing, maximizing, and disqualifying. Today’s we’ll look at a couple of fallacies — fairness and control.

Remember a fallacy is a belief we hold that is built on faulty logic, most often because we build conclusions on faulty premises.

Everything should be fair.

One the surface we would all agree with that statement. In fact, you may be ready to challenge my statement that this is a fallacy. There are two problems with that statement, however. First of all, who defines fair? If we as human beings do it, we will inevitably define fair in a way that gives us an advantage. Not to mention the fact that we generally see ourselves as fair.

The second thing is, when we say fairness, we really mean justice. We want things to be just. We want good rewarded and evil punished. We want hard work to pay off and laziness to result in failure. We want to get what we deserve and we want that for everyone else.

The expectation of fairness is based on a faulty premise.

“Life isn’t fair,” is often one of the first hard lessons we learn. But we don’t always consider why life isn’t fair. We live in a world that is broken by sin. It is irreparably broken and it cannot function in a way that is fair or just. We are broken people and even our best intentions derail. We have experienced unfair treatment and we have experienced injustice.

In our spiritual life, we can get discouraged if we focus on the unfairness and injustice. We can get frustrated with God who seems not to notice or care, or who doesn’t intervene on our behalf or right the wrongs we see. If we persist, we presume to judge what is fair and what isn’t, putting ourselves in God’s place.

God created us in His image. That longing for fairness, for justice comes from Him, so that in itself is not a bad thing. We must recognize that God is the only one who can deliver perfect justice.

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. Psalm 103:6

Anyone who is not God (that’s us) will work in ways that, intentionally or not, result in unfairness. We are not perfect, nor can we be, and we do not have perfect knowledge and understanding. Only God sees the entire situation, all extenuating circumstances and all the motives behind our actions.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:9-10

Because God sees and knows everything, His judgments then are perfect. And so is His timing. We get impatient in the face of unfairness, but make no mistake, God will set things right.

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18

We like the feeling of control

Our culture values those who take charge, who chart their own paths, who make things happen. We feel most secure when things happen according to our plans and expectations, or when people respond the way we want them to. No waves. Not even any ripples.

Control is an illusion

We react mentally and emotionally when things seem out of control, specifically out of our control. We labor under feelings of powerlessness. We are swept along by circumstances. We don’t have a say in the things going on in our lives. Sometimes it’s the opposite. We feel excessive responsibility. We have to make things right, or we have to ensure things run smoothly.

The truth is, there is very little we have control over. We can choose our responses, and honestly, that’s about it. But ever since the Garden, we have wanted to be like God and exercise our control over the world. The irony is we forfeited that dominion God entrusted us with for a piece of fruit. Perhaps that’s why we long for control.

In our spiritual lives this desire for control can manifest in a power struggle. Will God be God in our lives our will try to push Him off the throne and run things ourselves. On the flip side, it can show up in a belief that God is just as powerless to affect our circumstances as we feel we are. Both are false versions of God.

God is the creator of heaven and earth, and as such, He controls and oversees everything that happens. There is nothing that happens outside of God’s directives.

Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Lamentations 3:37

Paul explains the degree to which God is so far above us.

…[H]e who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 1 Timothy 6:15-16

The wondrous thing about God is that this incredible power, evidenced by His sovereignty over all, is exercised according to His perfect goodness and love for us. Romans 8:38-39 assure us that we as His children cannot be separated from His love.

This outworking of this is that we don’t have to control anything. And we don’t have to despair when things aren’t fair. Our great God, who loves us beyond understanding, has everything under control. He will ensure His perfect justice and fairness will have its way.

We just have to let go of the fallacies and trust God. (Keep working on it.)

Just so we’re clear, I’m not a counselor. I read, research, and study, and I have some life experience. I am not attempting to diagnose anything, but rather help us evaluate how we think based on Scripture.

Christmas with Paul: The Purpose

By Paula Wiseman

This week we’ll finish with our study of what the Apostle Paul said about Christ’s birth. While Paul never wrote at length on the subject, he does tell us some things that are critical to understanding who Christ is and why He came. In 1 Timothy, Paul outlines the key doctrines Timothy needs to teach in order to combat the false ideas infiltrating the church in Ephesus. One of those doctrines explains the purpose for Christ’s birth.

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
1 Timothy 1:15

Let’s break down this verse because once again, Paul tells us quite a bit in a very small space.

The Affirmation: It is a trustworthy statement, deserving of full acceptance

The introductory clause is used only in Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus. (It appears 5 times. Look for it when you read.) It notes a key doctrine for the beginning preachers to emphasize. When Paul uses it, he tells us something about our salvation (soteriology, remember). It means that what follows is a non-negotiable tenet of the Christian faith. In this case it is GOSPEL plain and simple. It the purpose for Christ’s coming.

The Purpose: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

Paul likes this order, Christ Jesus, for Jesus’s name. It highlights the anointed King and Redeemer who became the man Jesus.

Christ came into the world. Paul also uses the same kind of language John uses to underscore Jesus’s pre-existence. He was with the Father, then He came into the world (see John 3:19, 9:39, 16:28 and others). Christ wasn’t born into existence the way the rest of us are. In Bethlehem, the angels announced, the shepherds witnessed the Incarnation of the eternal God.

To save sinners.

His purpose wasn’t to teach us the Word of God clearly. Although He did. His purpose wasn’t to show us how we are supposed to live. Even though He did that too. He didn’t come to heal the sick or raise the dead. He didn’t even come to reveal the religious hypocrisy so rampant His day. These are all good things, no question, but they pale in comparison to Christ’s true purpose in coming — to save sinners. He came to do the thing no one else could do. No one else could pay the debt we owed. Because of His great love, God protects us from His own wrath … by enduring it Himself though Christ. Sometimes, that fact is simply overwhelming.

The Reality: Sinners, among whom I am foremost of all

Paul wasn’t using false modesty to gain some sympathy points. On the contrary. He got it. He had spent enough time studying the Scriptures to see the holiness of God and the egregious violations we commit against Him. Paul’s statement comes from humility and deep, deep gratitude. God help us have that same attitude.

We’ve seen that through prophecy and the plan of God, there was a panacea made available to us. That was the purpose for Christ’s birth. For Paul, Christmas is the Gospel. But then, everything is the Gospel. May that Joy overtake us this Christmas and remain with us in the New Year!

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’ incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Charles Wesley, 1739

Signs of Hardness: Wealth

By Paula Wiseman

One of the memorable details in the Exodus is Pharaoh hardening his heart. Despite the miracles, the plagues, the pronouncements of Moses, he persisted, and the end result was God’s judgment on him and his nation. Pharaoh wasn’t the only one with a hard heart. Israel soon developed one in the wilderness. In the Old Testament and New Testament, we are warned not to harden our hearts. Of course, we would never … It doesn’t happen overnight though. It starts with an action or an attitude and before we know it, we are cold and indifferent to God and His word. We’ve begun considering some cautionary signposts that mean we are on the road to a heart hardened toward God. Last time we discussed disobedience. In this post, we’ll look at wealth.

What is wealth?

The dictionary defines wealth as an abundance of valuable material possessions or resources. We may not consider ourselves wealthy, but look at God’s warning in Deuteronomy.

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Deuteronomy 8:11-14

Most of us have enough food, decent houses to live in and plenty of stuff, even if we don’t have multiplied silver and gold. God’s warning applies to us.

How does money produce hardness?

Jesus told a parable about a rich man whose harvest exceeded expectations. His response to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to hold all stuff. God called him a fool, and required his soul that very night. The farmer’s comment tips us off to three key ways hardness happens.

‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘
Luke 12:19

Self-sufficiency.
Laziness.
Selfishness.

The man had arrived. His hard work had paid off. He didn’t need anything from anyone and he didn’t see a need to be generous with his excess. There was no indication that he was thankful or that he recognized his blessings came from God. He embodies the warning God issued in Deuteronomy. He was proud and forgot God.

We can land in the same place. We can see our things as resulting from our savvy, hard work rather than as a blessing and stewardship entrusted to us from God. We get proud and forget God.

How do you soften a heart hardened by wealth?

Jesus gives us some direction here from the Sermon on the Mount.

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
Matthew 6:20

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 6:24

He says “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

In each statement, Jesus challenges us to examine our priorities. Wealth is temporal and temporary. It is a useful tool but not a goal in itself. If acquisition distracts us from serving Chris, it is an idol.

Paul has similar instructions for Timothy

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
1 Timothy 6:10-11

Wealth is temporal and temporary. It is a useful tool but not a goal in itself. If acquisition distracts us from serving Christ, it is an idol.