Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Back in high school one summer I was working with a lawn care crew. I was working one day on trying to get an overgrown parking lot under control. Another person on the crew would often post up in the shade and watch everyone else working. He would work a little but then would retreat back to the shade with his Gatorade bottle and just sit and watch. About halfway through the hot summer day, he came to me and began critiquing how I was working on the overgrown parking lot. I honestly don’t remember what his critiques were. They may have been life-altering, making my day much better, or they could have been nonsense. I didn’t know because I didn’t listen. I didn’t care for anything he had to say. After all, he was trying to tell me how to work while he was doing no work at all.

1 Timothy 3:1-13 outlines the qualities of a leader within the church, a blueprint of godly leadership. There’s a huge amount of wisdom for anyone in a leadership position or striving toward a leadership position. It also holds a tremendous amount of wisdom and guidance for any believer. As believers, we are all called to “go and make disciples... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:18-20). As Christians, we are all leaders in some form of our life. Whether that be at work, at home, or with our friends, we all have some level of influence on the circle around us. Because of this, if we are to live out our purpose as Christians to go and make disciples, then we would be wise to heed Paul’s writing in 1 Timothy 13 and examine our lives and the ways we are portraying ourselves.

See, the critiques from the guy on the lawn care crew fell on deaf ears because of the way he portrayed himself. Just to name a few from these verses, he was not blameless, he did not have good behavior, he was not hospitable, and as a result, he was unable to teach. While teaching a better technique in lawn care can be beneficial, we as believers have a much higher purpose to tell and teach people about the love and saving mercy of Christ - something we would never want to fall on deaf ears. Make the adjustments you need to make in your life to be a better spiritual leader in your circle.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

What are some adjustments you need to make in your life to be a better spiritual leader in your circle?

Family Devo: 1 Timothy 3

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 1 Timothy 3, Paul starts off by giving us a list of qualifications for leaders in the church. At first glance, it seems like a long list of rules, but it’s really more of a guide for how leaders should behave.  

Do you have rules in your family? What is the point of having these rules? Rules are there to guide us in our behavior. Our family has rules. One of the biggest rules in our family is to treat others with respect, and another is that when upset, use your words.   

Heart

As a loving parent, I don’t have rules to make my kids miserable. I have rules because I love my children, and sometimes, they don’t have the best self-control and wisdom to guide themselves. These boundaries are also in place to protect them and keep them safe. So, the rules help them know what the expectations are. It’s like this with God. He has rules for all his followers, so they know how to behave in any situation and to set up boundaries with the goal of protecting our hearts. 

Hands

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for the rules You give us that keep us safe and give us wisdom. Help me to behave in a way that always makes You proud.