Teachings From Paul, A Great Mentor 36 [1Tim 1:1-7] / Anne's Faith Column

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Teachings From Paul,

A Great Mentor 36

[1 Tim 1:1-7]

/ Anne's Faith Column

 

 

/ By pastor Priscilla

 

 

 

It can be seen that

Paul sent a letter to Timothy,

the son of faith and showed

personal interest in him,

 

 

 

and showed special interest

in the 'Church of Ephesus',

which was experiencing

doctrinal confusion.

 

 

 

Paul greeted Timothy,

the son of spirit, with love,

wishing him grace, mercy,

and peace from Jesus Christ. 

 

 

 

Reading this scripture,

in today's life of faith,

first of all, we can

strongly feel

 

 

 

and recognize how much

we desperately need a

  spiritual mentor like Paul.                    

 

 

 

Sometimes, even to us

as believers, a period of

stagnation in our faith

inevitably comes.

 

 

 

There are times when

we are confused

by various problems,

 

 

 

we are hesitant

to make decisions,

unable to get through.

 

 

 

Or,  through

religious laziness

 

 

 

or spiritual ignorance,

we may continue to live a

 dull life without any change.

 

 

 

In the end, we cannot

voluntarily jump

into God's arms

 

 

 

and enjoy peace,

nor can we quickly

get out of the

 'swamp of our lives'.

 

 

 

There are times when we

hesitate to make decisions

in the face of problems,

 

 

 

and we vaguely hope that

someone will guide us

on the right path.

 

 

 

When we look back

on ourselves calmly,

 

 

 

how many of us Christians 

feel contradicted by our

indecisive actions

and attitudes,

 

 

 

yet are unable to make

courageous decisions

and continue to be led

by formal lives?

 

 

 

So,  in order

to communicate

spiritually even in our

chaotic life,

 

 

 

and to have the true

meaning of life,

discernment,

and spiritual insight,

 

 

 

we unwittingly find

a mentor like Paul

who will guide us

spiritually and inform

the world of God.

 

 

 

In today's scripture,

the 'Apostle Paul'

through 'Timothy'

tells us:

 

 

 

"As I urged you when

I went into Macedonia,

stay there in Ephesus

 

 

 

so that you may command

certain men not to teach

false doctrines any longer

 

 

 

nor to devote themselves

to myths and endless

genealogies.

 

 

 

These promote

controversies rather

than God's work-

-which is by faith."

[1 Timothy 1 : 3-4]

 

 

 

In other words,

the Apostle Paul sternly warns

us not to become believers

who do not know where to

go and do vain things.

 

 

 

In addition, he instructs us

not only to exclude

the humanistic faith

without Jesus Christ,

 

 

 

but he also instructs us

to be more zealous,

especially to achieve

God's work in faith.

 

 

 

He tells us not to make

believers confused by

making controversies,

 

 

 

and it means that the

purpose of warning 

should not be

misguided.

 

 

 

In particular,

Paul points out

this as follows:

 

 

 

"The goal of this comm

and is love, which comes from

a pure heart and a good

conscience and

a sincere faith.

 

 

 

Some have wandered away

from this and turned to

meaningless talk.

 

 

 

They want to be teachers

of the law,  but they

do not know what 

 they are talking about

 

 

 

or what they so

confidently affirm."

[1 Tim 1:5-7]

 

 

 

This tells us that we

should look back once again

on the path of life that

 

 

 

we have run so far

in order to live the life

of a steward.

 

 

 

And we must realize

the love that the Lord

has given us again

and then we must

make new resolutions.

 

 

 

Then, what attitude

should we have?

 

 

 

1) You must have

a pure heart.

 

 

 

To do this, we must first

get rid of the complicated

thoughts and the root of

 bitterness in our heart.

 

 

 

God's work will happen

when we pray with

the Holy Spirit,

 

 

 

the Spirit of truth, and long

for it with sincerity.

 

 

 

2) For a good conscience,

the element of evil must be

completely eradicated.

 

 

 

3) We must imitate

Jesus Christ

with a sincere heart

and serve and follow

 Him in obedience.

 

 

 

Therefore,

just as 'Apostle Paul',

who was an excellent mentor

 

 

 

and apostle of 'Timothy',

imitated 'Jesus',

more than anyone else,

 

 

 

I sincerely hope that

we will also follow

Paul's example

 

 

 

and realize the

purpose of warning.

 

 

 

And also l hope that

we will obtain a valuable

 

 

 

and important opportunity

to establish firm faith

as upright believers

 

 

 

through this, following

his instructions

and teachings.

 

 

 

Prayer

 

 

 

Lord! 

There is no way to stop

being grateful.

 

 

 

As we follow Jesus,

who is the way,  the truth,

and the life,  in realizing

the truth in the Holy Spirit,

 

 

 

please allow us first to meet

a great mentor like Paul!

 

 

 

Above all,

after learning the right faith

and preparing it for

its firm roots,

 

 

 

please allow us to learn

and remain in what

we are convinced of

 

 

 

so that each one of us

can become a great

mentor like Paul.

 

 

 

 

Amen!

 

 

 

2009/04/20 

 

 

 

/ By Priscilla