1 Timothy 1

Dear Paul,

Thank you for writing me. I have always been thankful to have a mentor like you to guide me through my journey of faith, especially teaching me specifically on some of the things that I ought to take note of and do. You have been like a father to me, faithfully teaching the way of the Lord. I would never trade anything in the world for this mentorship. I only pray that I can pass on this baton of faith to the next generation and be a mentor to them as you had been to me.

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5)

When you asked me to stay in Ephesus that I may charge some that they do not teach other doctrine, and also not to pay any attention to fables and endless genealogies, because these causes disputes more than edification, it was hard. Often, when we are the teachers, we like to have the authority over those we teach. If not for the three explicit elements that you listed out, I might have been instructing in vain, because I would have been teaching with a wrong motive.

Firstly, you stressed that it must be done out of love from a pure heart. Why do we even bother in the first place to charge those who have strayed to return?  It is because we genuinely love their souls. We care that they may not perish, but that we may all inherit that heavenly prize when Jesus comes again.

Secondly, it is love from a good conscience. Can we see a brethren fall and not feel anything? If we are compelled by the love of Christ, and bonded in the body of Christ, we would feel the pain when a brethren falls. When Jesus was to ask, “Where is your brother,” how would we answer?

Finally, love from a sincere faith. When we truly love our God, we would also treat all other people with sincerity. Charging them not to teach a different doctrine then should not be done out of any sort of arrogance or a I-am-higher-rank-than-you-and-so-you-ought-to-listen-to-me kind of attitude. Rather, it is done in all sincerity and hence humility; for we are humbled by the love of Christ to love others. And so, when others are going on a wrong way, we speak the truth in love, not because we are lord over them, but because we love them with the love of God.

And so, whenever we teach, instruct, or admonish others, we ought to check within ourselves against these three elements. Is it done out of a pure heart, a good conscience, sincere faith? Or am I just satisfying some of my own fleshly desires?

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

You commit to me the charge that I may wage the good warfare. How often do we forget that in this life of faith, it is really about fighting a battle, a spiritual battle! We often imagine that after we have submitted our lives to Christ, all should be well and good. We forgot that Jesus Himself said that in this world we would have tribulation, and also how we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Striving to enter through the narrow door already signifies that it is a road not easy to tread on. Why do we imagine that all would be smooth-sailing and even expect prosperity?

You reminded me that struggle is good. A spiritual struggle means that we are still fighting on; we are not giving up. And we fight on, knowing that God has already given us the victory. Yes, Jesus has overcome the world, the victory is promised, but we still need to march round Jericho in order to obtain that victory in Christ Jesus. This is the faith that you were talking about.

The other is to have a good conscience. Believing and having full trust in God to deliver us and give us the victory is one thing; but have we really done according to His will and what pleases Him is another. Can we really have a good conscience before God? Can we stand blameless before Him when He comes again, telling Him that we have done and kept all that He has commanded. Will He say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant, come and enter into My rest”?

I definitely would not want to suffer shipwreck in my faith, like some others had. I need to have both faith and a good conscience.

Thank you, Paul, for your words that build me up, and for guiding me as a son in the faith.

Till I see you again, may the good Lord watch over you.

Emmanuel,
Timothy

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As I tried to put myself in the shoes of Timothy, these were some thoughts that I had. When I read the epistle that Paul wrote to Timothy, I am comforted by the bond that the two share. Like father and son, Paul not only cared for Timothy but also gave really specific ways that Timothy should conduct his life and to pastor the sheep. While there is no obvious Mentor Paul in my life, I thank God that He has provided people along the way to direct me to the right path. Their appearances are often timely, and I know that it is only possible by the hands of God. Hence, I learnt that we need to be sensitive to the gentle prompting of the Lord through the people He has placed around us at different periods. Their kind words, their sincere encouragement (that sometimes almost come forth as plea), and sometimes their tears, reminded me of what Paul told Timothy about love and the whole purpose of teaching another in the faith.

May we be able to love others with a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.