What does a man of God look like?

The New Revised Standard Version 1 Timothy 6:11-12

11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made

There are some important things we see here in reference to a man of God.

First, Timothy is told to “shun all this,” all what?

Paul had just got done writing to Timothy about the dangers of pursuing money, and the desire to get rich. He says it is a trap and that all kinds of evil stems from the love of money.

the love of money has caused people lie, cheat, steal

the love of money has caused people to abandon their family, or at the very least not give them the attention they need

the love of money has caused many to forsake their relationship with God.

Next we see Paul tells Timothy to instead pursue the things of God

Pursue Righteousness

There are two kinds of righteousness in the bible

the righteousness we receive from Jesus -we don’t have to pursue this one

the righteousness we live out-we should pursue this

Simply put we should pursue the things that are right in the eyes of God

Pursue godliness

Godliness and righteousness are closely related…but I like to think of righteousness as our actions and godliness is how we think.

pursue faith

When Paul writes about faith here he is talking about trust not what we believe.

pursue love

Love is not a feeling but an action, it’s not an emotion but a decision. Are we pursuing good for others

pursue endurance

Don’t be a quitter

pursue gentleness

This involves how we deal with others.

We also see Paul tell Timothy to Fight the Good Fight

the good fight of the faith

Finally we see Paul tell timothy to take hold

Take hold of eternal life