1 Timothy 2:9-15 - Faith, Love, Holiness, & Modesty

        We are obviously fallible.  It’s a certain reality of this human condition.  Let’s remember the extent and depth of God’s love for us as we contemplate His standards.  God’s love for His servants and His covenant blessing will never be broken.  God doesn’t shift positions.  He’s as solid as a rock.  Our Rock.  God’s love is unconditional; you can’t take away how much God loves us.  It’s unfathomable.  God is faithful.  We, the created, are the fickle, the unfaithful (Isaiah 54:10).  

        God has an everlasting covenant with those who trust Him.  As believers in Christ, God expects us to change our ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong (Isaiah 55:7).  For help in this evil world we turn to God and He will forgive us generously.  God is faithful.  That's Christmas.

        I’m the last guy on earth who can talk of this message of modesty.  But Let’s hear Paul together and let God speak through His word.

        The Christian life is about living to please God.  We pray for God to help everyone.  And we live to honor God so that His message of forgiveness may spread quickly and be planted firmly so that everyone understands the truth.

        As a believer in Christ, we look quite different than those who are without the Holy Spirit, lost and confused, and without the treasure of the truth of Christ.  Or at least we should!  We are God-focused, others oriented because of the charge God gives us.  And humble.  May we not be focused on looks, greed, unquenchable desires, or getting ahead of everyone else.  May we be nothing like that.

        Instead, may our Churches be filled with men who are in right relationship with God, free from anger and controversy.  Let's face it, we can't serve well if we are not in the right relationship with God.  With God, all things are possible.  When our consciences are clear we have bold faith.  That is what God wants for us.  He very much desires pure vessels ready for the Master’s tasks.

        God never fails.  He came through for Paul.  And He will for you, and me.  God forgives.  He cleanses.  And God is more than ready to use a man or woman who is pure and open to working humbly for Christ.

        This passage of Scripture has instructions for men and women.  Both of the sexes are loved equally by Jesus.  God made each of us.  Jesus made everything, for that matter.

        And Jesus loves us so much that He gives us instructions for how Christians should live.  The Bible is filled with proverbs and principles for godliness.  But here, we hear high-level principles that cover a multitude of behaviors.  Men with clear consciences and actions that show it; women who let their actions show how much they love God.  Simple.  Eloquent.  God's way.  What will we do with these principles?

        God made marriage as the foundation of society.  Husband and wife producing God’s knit fruit.  Every person is made in the image of God. 

        So after that long-winded intro, what's Paul’s advice to women.  It is to trust the Creator.  The same message Isaiah gave to all of us.  Trust God as much as the women of the Bible did, nay, more.  Trust God right to the end, just as the Marys of the Bible did when they were at the foot of the Cross.  They did not understand.  But they knew God and they trusted God.  Jesus was beaten and dying, but they still believed.  And their belief was not in vain.  They were about to see the resurrected Christ and the explosive growth of the church after Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Father.  Like the women at the Cross, our faith and trust in Christ will not be in vain.

        Women.  You may very well have stronger faith than your husband.  And giftings in many areas - writing, speaking, finances, etc.  Every gift is from Christ our Creator.  Use your gifts well, like the industrious woman in Proverbs 31.  God does not make mistakes.  Jesus gives you special responsibilities and capabilities unique to you.  Some responsibilities and capabilities are simply not available to men.  They are the domain of women alone.  Know how much God loves you and His expectations for you confidently, but humbly.

        The Bible is clear that every woman is to find one husband.  Just as each man is to find one wife (Proverbs 18:22 and 1 Corinthians 7:2).  No shocker here, but your husband is to be a believer who is growing in his knowledge and understanding of Christ.

        As you know too well, your husband is growing in faith.  Be gracious to each other as we are all a piece of work.  God’s masterpiece.  We are fragile jars, weak in many ways, yet infinitely strong with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Like a composite material, we are infinitely stronger once we are bound together (Mark 10:9) as husband and wife.

        We know through Christ the blessing of the sacred gifts of marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, and family.  And the sacred role of the mother, as Mary the Mother of Christ exemplifies.

        Let's set our priorities straight.  It is what the Proverbs 31 woman does that makes her family revere her.  Yes, she is beautiful.  But it is the beauty of her hard work foresight and trust in God’s providential hand that makes her family trust and love her.  Her actions speak for themselves.  

        Lord God, I pray for godly women in the church.  May we as the men of the Church repent of the sin of not living up to God's standards and expectations.  May we treat marriages with the sanctity and honor that God ordains.  May we serve well in our God-designed roles as husbands and dads.  I pray for strong, godly women.  Women who honor God and live in faith in Christ, love, holiness, and modesty.  I pray for godly wives for my sons.  And for my grandsons.  May they all achieve much more than we could ask or imagine.  May their wives be filled with the Spirit of Christ and the courage and faith of Mary.  Of all the Marys.

        Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the beautiful woman you have given me as my wife.  She is an excellent example of the picture that Paul paints of a God-honoring woman in this chapter.  Please bless your Church, Lord Jesus, with strong marriages and strong families.  Amen.

Kari with her mom and sister, Saskatoon, SK.