A Rally Call For The New Year
But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6: 11-12
Todays passage is a well known one, but is such a great challenge and rally call for us as believers as we start this New Year. For Timothy to be called “a man of God” was a great title to be given. In the Old Testament this term was reserved for the prophets. If we are a Christ follower today, we should desire to be a man or a woman of God, not of the world, not of the flesh, but of God.
There are specific actions that Paul is calling Timothy and us to in these verses. First as a Christian we are to flee certain things. Pursue godly qualities, and then fight the good fight to take hold of eternal life. Scripture teaches we are to flee immorality, false teaching, pridefulness, and greed.
We are to pursue righteousness, godliness, and faith. Our righteousness is based on what Jesus did on the cross for us. The righteousness that was Christ’s is counted to us. We, then, are seen as righteous in the eyes of God. When you understand that, you gain a sense of security and loving acceptance. Godliness is taking on the very attributes of God. Unconditional love, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and selflessness. It’s not living for the visible things of life, but seeing a relationship with God as the most important factor in life. Faithfulness is being loyal to God and having an awareness that you committed your life to him.
The evidence that we have been changed by God is that we are loving people. Love is also the mark of a growing church. It is when the people are growing in love that you have a church that is alive. Steadfastness, means endurance, hanging in there, refusing to give up. Unwillingness to quit is the mark of a Christian man or woman of God. We are to pursue these things. Every day we should ask, am I living these actions?
Then we are told to fight the good fight. The Christian life is a battleground. God gives us times of peace, times of enjoyment and we should thank him for those. But remember, we are against an enemy who knows exactly how to get at us, how to discourage us, how to make us angry with each other, how to plant seeds of bitterness and unrest between a husband and wife, in a family, or in a community. The battle is fought right there. I believe in times like we are in, with this pandemic, it is even more evident.
How do you fight the good fight? Paul says to take hold of that eternal life with which you began this Christian experience. Remember in Ephesians 6, where Paul says to put on the full armour of God? That armour is Jesus Christ. It is His strength, His wisdom, His love, His gentleness, His peace in our life. That is the way you fight the good fight.
We start this when we make Christ, Lord in our life. This is what God has called you to. When you are washing dishes at the sink, do you practice the presence of Christ? When you are at work in your office, or talking on the phone, or dealing with your children, or shopping in the grocery store, wherever… do you practice the presence of Christ?
Do you remind yourself that God is with you, empowering you and teaching you how to react, bringing to your remembrance things that you need to know about relationships and then obeying Him. This is the way you fight the good fight, and lay hold of that eternal life to which you have been called.
This New Year seek to live and be the the man or woman of God that you are called to be.