Learn love, or you learn nothing. 1 Timothy 1.3-7
The Pastoral Epistles: 1 Timothy 1 (2)
Pray 116.16-19.
O LORD, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now in the presence of all His people,
In the courts of the LORD’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!
Read and meditate on 1 Timothy 1.3-7.
Reflect.
1. What is the purpose of Christian instruction? How is that purpose realized?
2. How did Paul describe those who had “strayed” from sound instruction?
Meditate.
Right away, Paul gets to the point of his first epistle to Timothy: He charges Timothy to exercise vigilance over the teaching in Ephesus, that it be comprised of sound doctrine, focused for right impacts, and aimed to achieve right results.
Word had reached Paul – or perhaps it was already beginning when he left Ephesus – that certain teachers had become fixed on narrow, academic, and divisive matters – “fables and endless genealogies” (v. 4). Such teaching contributed nothing to the edification of believers or their churches, but it must have been impressive to some, especially those who fancied themselves “teachers of the law” (v. 7).
Teaching that is merely to impress, or merely proposes interesting but unedifying ideas, is not to be tolerated in the churches of the Lord. True teaching has one content: sound doctrine (v. 3). It aims to impact the souls of God’s people, so that their minds, hearts, and consciences are shaped increasingly into the image of Christ (v. 5). And it strives to move people to the practice of true faith in acts of love, not merely some hypocritical mouthing of ideas (v. 5). Love – for God and neighbors – is the aim of all sound instruction. Timothy’s job was to make sure all the teachers – and all the disciples at Ephesus – understood this, and that they would settle for nothing less.
It’s easy for teachers to think more highly of themselves than they should, and to begin teaching more to impress than to edify. Teachers who do not aim at love, work for love, insist that their students practice love, and love God and others themselves, are merely clanging cymbals; they neither understand what they are teaching nor what they’re trying to do (v. 7). Timothy’s job was to help the teachers at Ephesus do theirs.
Our job is to learn love and to help others to learn it as well. If we love the Lord well, we’ll show it by the way we love others.
Reflect.
1. Is love really supposed to be the outcome of all Christian instruction? All preaching and teaching? Why?
2. How can we tell when we have really learned something? How should true learning affect our soul? Our daily life?
3. What can you do to make sure all your learning is helping you to grow in love for God and your neighbors?
Whoever … thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand it at all.Augustine (354-430 AD) On Christian Doctrine
Lord, teach me to love! In my times in Your Word, and as I pray, show me…
Pray Psalm 116.
How does this psalm lead us to show the love we have for God? Pray that God will give you more love for Him.
Sing Psalm 116.
Psalm 116.7-14 (Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
Full well the Lord has dealt with me; my soul from death He delivered.
My weeping eyes, my stumbling feet, He has redeemed forever.
Forever I before His face shall walk with those who know His grace,
And dwell with them forever.
Afflicted, I believe His Word, though lying men would undo me.
What shall I render to the Lord for all His blessings to me?
Salvation’s cup I lift above and call upon the God of love
And pay my vows most truly.
T. M. Moore
Whatever our calling in life, we are sent to bring the joy of Christ to the people around us. Our book, Joy to Your World!, can show you how to fill your Personal Mission Field with more of the Presence, promise, and power of Christ and His Kingdom. Order your copy, as a supplement to our study of 1 Timothy, by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).
