HOUSE OF ROBERTS BLOG

I was reading 1 Timothy in my personal time with God and I came across this passage that I think is for you, Dad.

1 Timothy 6:11-14, “But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses 13 And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.”

It first caught my attention because of what Paul, who wrote this letter, called Timothy…A man of God. There a lot of things that it would be good to be called, but probably the first label we should carry as fathers is “Man of God.” Not only that, but after Paul calls Timothy that he precedes to break down what a man of God does and he does so by using all these verbs. 

I think that is important for us to understand because being a man of God is not just a state of mind, it is not just a label that is bestowed on us, it is a life that is full of action. You’re a man and God created you to do things in this world. The problem with a lot of guys is we don’t give ourselves to doing the things that God instructs us to do, and as a result, we give ourselves to stuff that doesn’t really matter or stuff that actually has a negative impact on us and our family. 

With that said, over the next few posts, I am going to highlight the different verbs that I see in Paul’s charge to Timothy and ultimately us. The first one is found in verse eleven when Paul tells Timothy to. “run from all these evil things.”

Being a man of God is running toward what God has called us to as well as running away from what God says is evil. How do most men get into trouble? Let me say this, it doesn’t happen in a moment. No one wakes up one morning and just decides to have an affair or to be an alcoholic. No, it starts by just hanging around that which you should be running from. The life of a man of God is not about how close can we get to sin without giving in, it’s about how close can we get to God so that Christ might be formed in us. That pursuit has us running from sin and that which would eventually bring compromise into our lives.

Let me ask you a question, “What’s the sin that seems to trip you up the easiest?” Is it lust? Is it anger? Is it a substance? Once you’ve identified it, let me ask you a follow-up question, “Are you running from it or are you letting it hang around?” If you find yourself in close proximity to it, then run! Run away, Dad! You don’t want that anywhere near you. It’s not worth it. It doesn’t matter if it inconveniences your life or if other people in your world won’t understand. You are a man of God, and you need to run away from that and run toward the life God called you to live. 

I believe this one verb will keep you away from most things that will eventually bring regret into your life. Not sure how to do that? Sit down with your Pastor or your Small Group Leader, talk about a strategy that will have you running from evil, and allow them to keep you accountable.

As we head into the New Year, you are probably making some resolutions. Can you add one more? Let’s all run from evil this year…You man of God!