Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

There was one time that I walked into a church basketball tournament in a family life center holding a Gatorade. I was quickly admonished as I came through the door by a lady who told me, “These drinks had no place in the Lord’s House.” I quickly left and didn’t come back. Another time, at another church, I arrived a few minutes late and left a few minutes early. I didn’t want any attention or for anyone to even know I was there. I was hurting and didn’t want to interact with people, but knew I needed to be in the Lord’s presence. Shortly after I left that day, I got a text from someone who noticed me at church. They told me how glad they were I was there. I immediately felt seen and loved, even though that was what I was subconsciously trying to avoid. Quite a different experience.

In verses 1 and 2 of 1 Timothy 5, Paul tells Timothy how to relate to different age groups. The guidance encourages us to see one another through the lens of a family, showing love and deep respect, fostering a sense of unity, and belonging to our church community. How we interact with others in our church family can have such an impact on their lives as well as our own. In the two examples I gave at the beginning of this devo, I was a believer looking for community and a place to worship God. One interaction sent me far away from that community and the other drew me in. Within a sentence of interaction, my course was changed in both situations. There’s power in our words and in our interactions. By interacting with grace and love, we contribute to a warm, welcoming atmosphere where people can be drawn to God and a biblical community. By embracing this warm and welcoming atmosphere, we get to see people get plugged in and experience God - sometimes for the first time in their lives. In turn, their families - as well as those around them in day-to-day life - experience God. All of this happens because we were conscious of how we interacted with one another at church.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Consider the impact of your words and actions. Are you treating fellow churchgoers with the honor and love that Paul recommends?
• Are you seeking to build meaningful relationships within your church family?

Family Devo: 1 Timothy 5

By: Tina Bryant

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.   

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset  

Head

1 Timothy 5 paints us a beautiful picture of how the church family should treat one another. It starts by telling us how to treat each person in our church family, “Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity.” Paul was simply saying to treat each person like family!  

Heart

Church Family can be so much more than just folks you say hello to on Sunday morning. Maybe you are involved in a House Church and you’ve become more than just friends with some of the people at church. There is a special respect we give to family members and that includes how we take care of each other.  

Paul got very detailed in how we should take care of the people in our church family. He wanted to make sure that people who were widows (women whose husbands had passed away) were supported and cared for. We can extend this special respect to other people in our church family as well.  

Hands

I’m very thankful for my church family, and my House Church family. They encourage me and support me. Even though I’m not a widow, they take care of me like I’m their sister. Having a place to belong and serve is a good feeling! If you aren’t involved in a House Church, ask your parents about joining one today. If you are involved in a House Church, pray together as a family and ask God to show you who in your church family could use some encouragement and support today! 

Prayer: Father God, thank you for giving me a church family to belong to. Today I ask that you would show our family who in our church family we could help. Lead us and show us who might need a word of encouragement or some extra support this week and give us the ability to help meet the needs of others in meaningful ways this week.