Tag: 1 Timothy 5

Respect

1 Timothy 5

Saturday, September 10, 2022

When I first moved to Louisiana I had experienced culture shock. The food was different, the accents were different, and even the weather was different. All around, it has been quite interesting. I think the thing that stood out to me the most is the amount of respect everyone gave each other. Especially if someone was older than you were. When I first went to church and was introduced to some of the kids there they all had to call me “Mr. Jesse” which was quite weird to me because I had not lived with a prefix my whole life, unless it was something formal. Likewise, the amount of Yes sirs and No sirs, and yes ma’ams and no ma’ams was alarming. The only time I said those things growing up was when I was in trouble. However down here it is considered just respectful. Paul, In the first verse of 1 TImothy chapter five reminds me of this culture. “Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.” All of these things have to do with respect. Some people say “I’m not going to give respect unless I get respect.” However I would say Paul gives us good guidelines for this by saying Honor older men as fathers, and younger as brothers and women as mothers and sisters. This is how we should treat everyone, as if they were family. It can be difficult sometimes, families can be tricky.

-Jesse Allen

Application Questions

  1. Who has been a good example to you of showing respect to others? How do you think they do it?
  2. When do you have a hard time showing respect? What can you do to improve in this area?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Want to Get Rich?

1 Timothy 6

(Today’s devotion will be on 1 Timothy 6. Tomorrow we will jump back to 1 Timothy 5. Thanks for being flexible with us!)

Friday, September 9, 2022

 “Hey Jesse are you going to buy a lottery ticket?” A group of my coworkers had been talking about the jackpot because the lottery had reached over a billion dollars. The conversation that followed that question was followed with speculation of what the group of us would buy or what we would do with the money. Many, if not all, said they would have quit their jobs and bought extravagant things. Some even said they would invest it and be smart with the money. And some said they would give most of it away and keep enough to live on for the rest of their life. My answer to the question was “No, I mean of course it would be nice to have that money but I know I would probably spend all of it and end up in debt, broke, or dead.”

I think the lottery is a good example of what the world reaches for but doesn’t understand. Money may be able to buy you a boat, a cool new car, house, vacation, or whatever. However those things are only temporary and don’t satisfy the one thing we all strive to achieve in our lives. CONTENTMENT. No, not fugitives selling wintergreen lifesavers out of a tent, but contentment. The understanding of knowing what you have right now is enough. Just read what Paul in 1 Timothy 5:6-9 says “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Money is not bad, however if you aren’t content without it, what makes you think you will be content with it? I can tell you from experience you won’t be,  unless you are trying to attain only to godliness first. Then everything else ordinarily falls into place and we become content. Something I struggle with, and I am sure you do as well, everyday. The understanding that God takes care of His people when they are seeking him is scattered all throughout the Bible. My favorite example and probably most prominent is Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all these things shall be handed unto you.” (I recommend reading the whole chapter to get the gist of what “all these things” Jesus is speaking about. No the lottery isn’t one of those things.) Seeking God is where we find our ultimate contentment. With him we don’t have to worry about plunging ourselves into ruin and destruction as many of the past lottery winners have done. Instead, we live our lives knowing we are content.

-Jesse Allen

Application Questions

  1. What do you think Paul meant when he said, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6)?
  2. How does your contentment rank? Without ‘getting’ any more – how can you boost your contentment level with what you have right now?
  3. Explain how the Love of Money can be the root of all kinds of evil. Have you seen an example of this?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload
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