Pastoral Epistles: Godly Examples (Part 2 of 3)

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus 

2 Timothy 1:13 


The story is told of a T.V. repairman who didn’t like to think about his job when he came home. As a result, he never bothered to properly install the T.V. antenna on the top of his house or fix it when one arm broke in a windstorm. One day a new family moved in next door, and the owner went up on his roof to install an antenna. Knowing that his neighbor was a T.V. repairman, he put his up exactly the same way and turned his antenna to face in the same direction as his neighbor’s. Then, after studying his neighbor’s antenna for a while, he reached up and broke one arm off his new antenna!

As disciples, we teach by example, whether we intend to or not! And while this may apply in greater measure for those who are in leadership positions, it applies universally to all people because we are all teaching. In writing his second letter, Paul is not rebuking any negligence on Timothy’s part, but fortifying and encouraging Timothy to remain steadfast in his ministry should anything happen to him during his “vacation” in a dungeon. And the call to follow a pattern is truly a call for Timothy set an example by holding fast to sound doctrine because a godly leader cannot be one if he does not hold fast to the truth.

As the saying goes, Orthodoxy, right teaching, will always lead to orthopraxy, right living. It is not some sort of intellectual ascent that Paul is commending towards Timothy, but rather that the truth should be expressed in his own life. As disciples of Christ we should treasure the word of God, but it should be evident by the way that we live that we are not living according to our will, but that of the will of the Father. Paul expressed this same truth in his first letter and to Titus to “set the believers an example” and “to be a model of good works” (1 Tim 4:11; Titus 2:7). A special handling of God’s Word will ultimately impact their teaching and godly living which could result in the salvation of themselves and their hearers (1 Tim 4:16).

And this charge is not exclusive to Timothy and Titus, but for all believers. Every generation is charged with the responsibility to guard sound doctrine and to live according to it, through the help of the Holy Spirit. Each person is called to live in such a way that others will see our good works, and give God the glory (Matthew 5:16). And so, I encourage you to continue to follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard and to set a godly example to your fellow believers and to the world.

Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

To never miss an article, click on the "Subscribe" button at the top of the blog page (https://aogalvez.blogspot.com/)
****************************************************
These articles follow the current Bible Reading plan for Overflow Ministries. If you would like to join the reading plan, simply download the plan here: Overflow Reading Plan

You may follow Overflow Church @ https://faithlife.com/overflowtx/activity
or on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/OverflowChurchTX/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balance

Image
"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV) This past weekend (Month even) has been a very busy one. It often happens that when life ramps up, we cut the unimportant things out of our lives in order to accomplish the tasks we identify as most critical. To all my followers, I want to apologize for my having cutting this portion of my life out for a period of time and I will do my best to have more consistency. A years ago, the United States Army deployed a digital "fitness" test to its soldiers and certain respondents received a message that read, "Spiritual fitness may be an area of difficulty. You may lack a sense of meaning and purpose in your life. At times, it is hard for you to make sense of what is happening to you and to others around you. You may not feel connected to something larger than yourself. You may question your
Read more

Satisfaction

Image
“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:11b (NIV) This has been a very busy month for me in terms of traveling around. I returned home from Brazil after a long three weeks and, after two days, I now find myself back in a hotel in the great city of Duncan, Oklahoma. Although it is slightly inconvenient to me, in terms of my schedule for studying the word, prayer, and working out to live in a hotel for almost a full month, I have found great comfort in the words from the apostle Paul. A man who has murderous attempts on his life, been imprisoned on multiple occasions, beaten up, shipwrecked three times, and bitten by a snake was able to find a state of contentedness regardless of what situation he was in. Talk about finding complete joy. This is the same joy that the beloved disciple wrote of many times for other believers to embrace. And this is a joy that over the years I have learned to develop and enjoy. That no matter what situation I find
Read more

Light

Image
“And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5 (ASV) Darkness is not a real thing. Cold is also not a real thing. They are just words that we have made up to define the conditions of an environment or state of existence at a specific period or periods of time. What do I mean then when I say that they are not real things? Well, what I mean is that the darkness that we see (or cannot see because of) is not because it is overwhelming, but because it lacks light. Darkness is the absence of light. When light comes into existence, because light is something real, darkness is expelled. That’s the same with cold. Cold is simply the absence of heat. It is not that it is cold and then at some point it shifts to being hot. It is simply that the heat that exists is too miniscule that it cannot bring warmth to anything. In verse five, we read that God is light, but not a weak source of light
Read more