Monday, October 26: 1Timothy 1- Love from a pure heart.

Consider for a moment that you are the principle founder of a company. You have an associate you have been mentoring, a rising star and a trustworthy co-worker and you have a problem in one of your branches. You want to send this younger associate to the plant to represent you and to clean up the situation, so you write him/her a letter. What would you put in that letter?

I would think I might:

·         Prop up the young worker so they believe in themselves and can tackle the job.

·         Remind him/her about some of the core values of the organization, particularly those that will impact the task at hand.

·         Point out some of the issues they might find and give them a briefing on the issues.

Welcome to 1Timothy.

Paul has been mentoring Timothy and now sends him to straighten out some problems, to be Paul’s representative in Ephesus. Paul won’t address those 3 points in a neat package, but each of these points will come out throughout the letter.

Reading the first chapter I was drawn to verse 5: The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Over and over in the New Testament we meet the command to love. It certainly is at the core of life for those who follow Jesus.

This rule of love –the Golden Rule -which can be found in many world religions, is often expressed as if it can stand alone and apart from the words of Scripture. Verse 5 makes me wonder if that is possible, as least as far as God’s evaluation of love is concerned.

Listen again to how verse 5 builds, The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Notice the foundation from which love grows: pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

·         Can we truly have a pure heart if we don’t know what God believes defines purity?

·         Can we have a good conscience if we do not know what God defines as good behavior?

·         Can we have sincere faith, which I take to be sincere faith in God, if we do not know how God defines faith?

Humanly we can have a ‘golden rule of love’, because I can define love my way and you, yours. But to follow God’s command of love, I must know God and His definition of love. To do this, I must be part of God’s family where His heart has replaced my stony human heart. I must be ‘born again’, only then can I truly understand what love is…

For the remainder of today I will be stewing on God’s definition of love and what I need to do to incorporate that love into my life…

What a delightful start to my day…

Lord, teach me love, Your love, Godly love. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen

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