by Pastor Rich Carlson 

Timothy faced quite a few challenges working with the church in Ephesus. Chapter three of Paul’s first letter to Timothy helps define the high expectations Paul had for the leaders of the church. Chapter four confronts the apathy, the rejection, and the distractions of those struggling with how the church fits into the culture they have to live in. I found three guiding principles that help me today as I struggle with some of the same issues.

“Train yourself to be godly.” My life should not be about how close I can get to being like the “world,” it’s how close I can get go being like God. Sometimes I am saddened as I look at myself and my attempts to “conform” to the ways of the world. If “the world” wears clothes that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t! But if the world presents unkindness, immorality, selfishness, or other “virtues” which are the opposite of being like God, then I want to reject them at all costs and live my life like Jesus. The verse concludes this way: “this is a trustworthy saying, that deserves full acceptance, that we have put our hope in the living God.” I want my life in every way to be patterned after God and unlike the world.

Paul instructs Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you… but set an example” (1 Tim. 4:12). I want to live my live that way, having the same attitude and spirit of love that Jesus demonstrated on this earth. So in what should I be an example? Consider verses 4-14:

• In speech
• In life
• In love
• In faith
• In purity
• In the public reading of God’s Word
• In preaching
• In teaching
• In the use of the gifts God gives

The greatest success I have found in Christian living is in focusing on what to do rather than on what not to do. Focusing on the former has an amazing ability to eliminate the latter!

“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them….Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere” (4:15, 16). And what will result is most amazing, according to Scripture. This will not only help me but it will help those who see and hear me. I can affect the salvation of others by faithfully training myself in godliness, being a consistent example, and persevering. Life with these characteristics is the greatest witness to those who are still deciding whether or not to follow Christ.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.