Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

If you have spent any time in a church, I am certain you have heard it said that our world is at war. This “war” isn’t tangible or visible; it is a war of spirituality. Light and darkness wage a battle over the hearts of humanity. Spoiler Alert: According to God’s word in Revelation, He wins! In 1 Timothy 1, we see Timothy, a soldier of Christ and a student of Paul, stationed in Ephesus helping to establish a church in the midst of this war. Of course, with any matter regarding people and church, there are difficulties and those who are led astray. Paul addresses such difficulties while both encouraging and calling Timothy to action in order to further root the church at Ephesus in proper theology.

So, let’s start with verses one and two. As with all of Paul’s letters, his introduction alone is enough to jolt anyone’s confidence, but especially Timothy’s. To paraphrase, Paul is essentially saying “I, Paul, through the authority of Christ, call you, Timothy, a 'true son in the faith,' and I extend God’s grace and mercy where you have in any way failed, as well as His peace in knowing that Christ is faithful." Imagine for a moment that you are Timothy. You are a young man who has suffered tirelessly for the Lord. Imagine how reading such a letterhead would affect you. In verses three through eleven, we read Paul describe the hostile environment in which Timothy is engulfed. From false doctrine to disputes over semantical genealogies, to those who instead of a language of love adopted idle talk, gossip, and false teaching of the law itself, Timothy most definitely has his hands full. Read over verses ten and eleven. How often do we find ourselves committing even just one of the sins mentioned in this list? My mind instantly brings me to a phrase my grandparents often used to say: “If you thought it, you done it.”

Paul flips the script in verses 12-17. For those who don’t know Paul’s backstory, he was once a persecutor of the faith, even going as far as killing many early Christians before Christ met him on the road to Damascus. It was then that his life was changed and he became a warrior for Jesus. In this section of chapter one, Paul briefly describes his testimony calling himself the “chief of sinners” for the sole purpose of bringing all of the glory for his transformation to Christ and Christ alone in verse seventeen. I often reflect on this, and it gives me hope in the fact that God is “abundant in grace and long-suffering” and more than capable of saving me.

Paul concludes this section with a charge to Timothy: “Fight the good fight.” How many times does life feel like a broken record? We live and this world takes its toll on us. We find ourselves without the energy to even think, much less fight the good fight. The good news is our strength comes from the Lord. We will never find it within ourselves. It is only through Christ's abundant grace and long-suffering that we are ever going to be able to fight the good fight. Remember to lean on Him as you go throughout your life and pray for His guidance in difficult situations.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• When it comes to a battle, do you stay and fight? Do you run away as fast as you can to avoid it? Do you freeze up because you feel afraid or overwhelmed and just hope it will pass?
• In order to "fight the good fight" as followers of Jesus, it is important that we draw our strength from the Lord.  What are some ways that we can be strengthened by God?
• Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray that You would give me Your courage and strength to face the battles of this world that I cannot see.  Teach my heart to trust You and lean on You when the battle seems overwhelming.  Remind my heart that You have already defeated the enemy and all I need to do is trust and be obedient to You.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Family Devo: 1 Timothy 1

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

In verses 12-17, Paul is sharing about the changes God has made in his life. And wow are they some big ones! You see, Paul wasn’t always the man of God we read about in the Bible. He tells us himself that he was a blasphemer (smack talked God), persecutor (bullied others for their beliefs in Christ), and arrogant (thought he was better & smarter than everyone else). Those aren’t exactly qualities you would think of when you think of a good and Godly follower of Christ.

What’s amazing when you look at Paul’s life, is that Jesus still chose him to be part of his ministry! It’s all about grace. Grace is defined as undeserved favor. That means you didn’t do anything to earn it or even deserve it, but it is freely and joyfully given anyway. Paul was not a nice guy at first, but then he had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life completely and he became a totally new guy! Some church folks would say he was transformed.

Heart

Transformation is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit that is offered to all His followers. If you’ve ever played with Transformer toys, then you know what I’m talking about. It’s like a truck that can turn into a dude. When we step into a life of following Christ, he transforms us into new creations just like He did Paul!

Maybe you have some bad habits you want to break, maybe you aren’t very nice at times, maybe you don’t speak up for others, or you say unkind things. It’s never too late to change. Paul wasn’t exactly a spring chicken when Jesus transformed him; if it wasn’t too late for him, it’s definitely not too late for you!

Hands

Prayer: Father God, Thank You for Your work of transformation that You did in Paul, please do a work of transformation in my heart too. Help me to recognize the transformation that You are doing so I can tell others about Jesus and how He changed me.