Heralds Digest

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV) Godliness is sometimes misconstrued as a sign of weakness, and a deficiency of the aptitude to fight for something good. Unfortunately, this misconception is borne out of a lack of proper distinction between good fight and bad fight. Good fight uses faith, instead of force. The use of the latter represents a subtle submission to the will of the devil. And no one engages the devil's assistance in a fight for right and keep right. Unlike force fight, faith fight cannot lack any of the ingredient of righteousness, godliness, faith, patience, love, and gentleness.

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6 NKJV) The problem with the spirit of discontent, even when personal rights to principal gain and promotion are violated, is the abuse of grace. Therefore, the scriptures rightly posited that godliness is not a means of gain. Actually, it is a method of grace. While the method of grace consistently employs the Spirit of God to take the lead in resolving challenges in life, the means of gain engages the spirit of "fight for your rights", no matter whose horse is gored. Sincerely, contentment with the leading of the Spirit of God always prevail at last.

"Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine." (1 Timothy 5:17 NKJV) Ordinary honour means a great fortune to followers. After all, they are used to giving honour, and not receiving. Therefore, it is natural for followers to pay attention to rules. Unlike followers, rulers are tempted to rule without paying attention to rules for self-use. However, elders who accept to be ruled by the word of God will not abuse the privilege to lead others. This implies that a double honour is worth the reward for any elder who sees the ruling of self as primary responsibility.

"Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." (1 Timothy 4:16 NKJV) Selfishness is the pursuit of self-serving in every service engagement. A selfish man can hardly accept any engagement where there is no clear-cut mode of satisfactory self-serving, before any other fellow is served. While this act is ungodly for all service of earthly rewards, it is encouraged towards the pursuit of heavenly grace. After all, a graceless servant of God cannot serve anyone with the doctrine of righteousness. Therefore, a daily ascent to the hill of the Lord for personal spiritual enrichment is a righteous exception to the concept of selfishness.

"For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10 NKJV) Reproach from men is actually an ugly taste of bad services from detractors. Besides the anticipated discouragement from a good course in life, the target of the architect of ill services is the implied negative impression about the goodness of God. Like the Apostle Paul's admonition to young Timothy, those who will be steadfast with their belief must trust God that all services are good. It is better to trust the testament of the Creator of all creatures than accepting the statement of each creature's service. The goodness in any ill service is not in its taste, but in its trust to safe.

"For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 3:13 NKJV) Management of people's needs with meager resources can be a daunting challenge, especially for those who are passionate about integrity. Deacons are faced with the responsibility of caring for the needy in the Church of Jesus Christ. To start well does not necessarily translate to serving well, until the servant's temperament is sufficiently tested. Notwithstanding, a dutiful deacon is not distracted by detractor's desperation.

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach." (1 Timothy 3:2 NKJV) A desire for the pinnacle of God's purpose for everyone in life is commendable. The only concern remains the want of the willingness to walk every godly desire. Like every other good desires, the position of a bishop is more than the decoration of title; it is rather more about the declaration of good testimonies from the challenges of life. Blameless bishop is obviously not about a saint walking straight without blame; it is probably about a sinner on an adventure of faith, who can't even walk without God holding his hands.