Rachel Workman: 6 All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they
will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching. 2 If the
masters are believers, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. Those
slaves should work all the harder because their efforts are helping
other believers who are well loved. When I first read this my initial reaction is to be angry. My first thought is no one deserves to be a slave. It's wrong.
But putting myself in that time frame, things were different. People
sold themselves into slavery so that they would have someone to care for
them. Their masters resumed responsibility for them and they had a
place to sleep and food to eat. In the end we are all slaves. Either we
serve God or we serve Satan. The choice is ours.
In today's time the closest we can relate these passages is with our employer. We need to respect our boss and work hard.
Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. 3 Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. 4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. I love this. Arrogant and lacks understanding. I see the words unhealthy, arguments, jealousy, division, slander, evil, and corrupt. These are the things associated with teachings that contradict the truth. I also see the word wealth. It makes me wonder if wealth is more Satan's tool.
In today's time the closest we can relate these passages is with our employer. We need to respect our boss and work hard.
Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. 3 Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. 4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. I love this. Arrogant and lacks understanding. I see the words unhealthy, arguments, jealousy, division, slander, evil, and corrupt. These are the things associated with teachings that contradict the truth. I also see the word wealth. It makes me wonder if wealth is more Satan's tool.
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Mike Grimm: 6 All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching.
2 If the masters are believers, that is no excuse for being
disrespectful. Those slaves should work all the harder because their
efforts are helping other believers
who are well loved. Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them.
Back
in Paul’s day there was such a social gap between masters and slaves.
But once they became Christians, the gap closed and they became
spiritual equals, or better yet,
brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul did not have an issue with
slavery, but he gave guidelines for Christian slaves and Christian
masters. We can carry this over into today’s workplace. As employees we
should work hard and show respect for our employers.
In return, our employers should be fair and respectful to their
employees. Yea, I too had a hard time keeping a straight face when I
typed this. Today, employees look at their jobs as simply a place to go
every day, and employers looks at their workers as
$$$$. I have found that the most difficult place to be a Christian is
at work. Now, instead of looking at my job as a paycheck, I try to let
my work reflect my faithfulness to and love for Christ. Some days are
better than others.
3 Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the
wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a
godly life.
4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and
lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble
over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy,
division, slander, and evil suspicions.
5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt,
and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of
godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
Paul
told Timothy to stay away from those who just wanted to make money from
preaching, and from those who strayed from the sound teachings of the
gospel into quarrels that
caused strife in the church. This does not refer only to the preachers.
This also refers to us when we witness to others. Our understanding of
the finer points of theology should NEVER become the basis for lording
it over others or for making money. We need
to avoid people who just want to argue. I just discovered today how
humiliating it is to apologize to a close dear friend because back in
May I “got all up in her grill” about why my beliefs are better than
hers. I failed to portray the Christian that I was
claiming to be, and as a result I dragged her into a situation she did
not deserve to be in. I turned our differences in denominations into a
battle over who’s right and who’s wrong. It took todays reading to make
me realize that I was no better than some
of the shady TVangelists that are on TV. Sometimes when I hear others
preaching scripture, or when I read a book, I really have to compare
what I’m hearing to what God tells me in the Bible. This is our guide to
what is God’s true word compared to what is
false teaching.
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