March 2010 - English

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. (1Tim 6:11)

It is so easy for Christianity to be portrayed as a series of don’t; ‘Thou shalt not …’ as used by the Authorised Version of the bible. But this is a great limitation of God’s purposes. His longing is for us to portray the characteristics of His Son, and to accomplish this, there is so much more to do than not to do. In this verse Paul sets out some objectives for us; and we can find many other similar verses in the New Testament.

To pursue these things requires focus and attention. It takes but a moment to lose one’s temper, but to remain patient in the midst of trials and difficulties, takes time; as long as the trials and difficulties last. Or it is sadly all too easy to respond violently in some situation, but to continue in gentleness whatever situations face us, requires much greater strength of character.
In the next verse Paul goes on to say, ‘Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life …’ Achieving these things requires strength and purpose; we are facing an uphill battle, because these things are foreign to the world in which we live. That is why, in another letter Paul prays that the believers ‘be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man’ (Eph 3:16b). It is the strength of the new nature that God puts within us that enables us to live the same way as Jesus did.

Let us press on together to show the life of Jesus to all around us!