What Do You Love?
Opening Prayer
Father, may my faith life be one of sincerity, ever living before the audience of heaven alone.
Read 2 Timothy 3:1-9
[1] But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. [6] They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, [7] always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. [8] Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. [9] But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What defines a "lover of God"?If you think over your definitions for a lover of God and then choose the opposite, you will probably have a similar list to Paul! For Paul, “lovers of themselves” are money-obsessed, unloving, undisciplined, and self-absorbed (2-4).Yet these people also have “a form of godliness” (5). These people are interested in God. They want to look good, but are not willing to be changed by the living God. They want to appear godly but don’t want to become godly. How different is this situation in Ephesus from life nowadays? Yes, Timothy was dealing with an insidious situation of false teaching (6,7) that was specific to Ephesus. However, there can be attitudes and temptations in our own lives that are not pleasing to God. The beautiful thing is that Jesus came so that we might be restored in our relationship with God. He came to make us “lovers of God” (4). The Gospel has power to change us to make us more like Jesus and to love God more. What we love matters! If we truly love God, then the Gospel will transform us and make us more like him.
Apply
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas that you need to surrender to him so that you can become more like Jesus.
Closing prayer
Lord, search my heart. Help me shed all that impedes Your life from flowing freely in and through me.
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