Key #2 – God Provides For His People
1 Timothy 6:5-10
• Why are godliness and financial gain so diametrically opposed to one another?
• What does Paul mean when he urges Christians to think of godliness and contentment together as their gain rather than financial gain
• What happens to those who desire to be rich in this present age?
• What is the root of all kinds of evil?
• Notice that it’s not money that Paul says is the root but the love of money. What is the difference in that distinction?
• What effect can the love of money have specifically on the faith of Christians?
• In what ways is it a struggle for you to be content with godliness in whatever circumstances God has put you?
• Can you think of any situations in which you saw someone not protect themselves against a love for money or possessions and wandered from the faith? What can you learn from that example?
1 Timothy 6:11-16
• Why does Paul urge Timothy to flee from the love of money? What does he want him to pursue instead?
• In verse 12, he literally urges him to take hold of the life of the age to come (translated “eternal life” in most English translations)
• In the early Christian thought, eternal life wasn’t just something that we looked forward to when we died. It was the life of the resurrection age, the age to come
• When we make our confession of Jesus as Lord at our baptisms, we are taking hold of that life right now in the present age and consecrating ourselves to live by the values of that life now
• The love for money and financial gain in the present age cannot coexist with the life of the age to come. The problem is that the love of money is rooted in the present age while Christians are to be focused on learning to live in the age to come
• In what ways have you taken hold of the life of the age to come right now?
• In what ways do you feel like you’re still living by the values of the present age rather than the age to come?
1 Timothy 6:17-19
• Verse 17 demonstrates that Paul is not opposed to wealth but to the ungodly attitudes that so often accompany it
• What does he describe as the great danger for those who are wealthy?
• The problem with wealth is that we begin to trust it and think that it provides for us rather than God
• We put our hope in the source which provides for us
• We must never waver in maintaining our conviction that God provides everything for us
• What does Paul say Christians should do with their possessions?
• What is the result of this?
• When we act in generosity and use our wealth according to the values of the age to come, we store up treasures for ourselves in that coming age
• One of the primary ways that we can take hold of the life of the age to come is to handle our possessions according to the reality of that life rather than the present age
• In what ways do you struggle with acting constantly in generosity and sharing in the present age?
Convictions
• Do you have a conviction to be on constant guard against the materialism that so pervades our culture and to embrace the values of contentment and generosity of the resurrection age?
• How can you specifically take hold of the life that is truly life right now beyond what you have already been doing?
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I do have to be on guard. As I walk down my street I notice that most houses have a boat parked in the driveway, or a couple jet-skis/4 wheelers in the garage. Everyone has a riding mower and play structure in the backyard. I may not really want all of those things, but I do start to feel like I am not normal - like I'm supposed to chase after these things. I think it's the acceptance of others, or world's image of what should be important that starts to eat away at my image of Godliness.
ReplyDeleteI grew up around a lot of wealth and compared to those around us we were not wealth. I always desired to have what my friends had. Brand new cars at 16, lavious vacations around the world, the opportunity to not work, college paid for...and the list goes on. Being around this community I began to develop foolish and harmful desires and this thinking has followed me into my adult life. But since becoming a Christian I have come to understand what real wealth is. Hallelujah for that! Lasly, I too am on guard and my hope is in God!
ReplyDeleteI think for me it is finding just overall "contentment with God". Giving financially has always been easy for me. I love to give. I grew up poor and with used/garage sale items, so to this day I find myself being frugal to a fault. I give tithe first, but then I look at the things around me that I'd like to do with the "extra" and can be discontented. I am one who loves to make things look beautiful and for cheap. Whether it is dress, yard, cleanliness of home, etc. My eye's see details that most do not, so when I look around me and see how I'd love to buy some new mulch, reside the pealing house, etc. I feel like then my mind can be hyperfocused on that and how to do it inexpensively and then the contentment with God is put by the wayside. I am reminded by 1 Timothy to put my hope in GOD, who richly provides me everything for my enjoyment. He will take care of all the "details". He knows my character and always blesses and encourages me in many ways, sometimes subtle, but noticed by me and I am always encouraged by Him.
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