“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11).
Having already addressed a variety of subjects within this letter, Paul the Apostle now encouraged Timothy to live in a manner that honored God’s call upon his life.
The phrase “…man of God” has a long Biblical history dating back to the early Old Testament period. This designation was used to identify such well-known Biblical personalities as Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1), Elijah (1 Kings 17:18), and David (2 Chronicles 8:14), as well as others who are completely unknown to us (1 Kings 13).
So unlike those whose lives were characterized by the pursuit of riches, Timothy was instructed to flee such things in order to focus upon other pursuits of greater eternal significance. Those objectives included…
- Righteousness. A righteous person is someone who is in right standing with God. The Scriptures tell us that those who accept Christ’s sacrificial death are declared to be “righteous” (or “without guilt”) in God’s sight (Romans 4:5-8). Furthermore, Jesus’ righteousness is imputed (or transferred) to those who accept His sacrifice on their behalf according to 1 Corinthians 1:30-31.
- Godliness is another way of referring to God-honoring character. It “…denotes that piety which, characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him.” (1)
- Faith. As mentioned earlier, genuine, Biblical faith is characterized by the confident belief that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He’ll do. One Biblical dictionary defines faith as “A belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for one’s life.” (2) Faith involves the confident expectation that God will act in a trustworthy manner to fulfill His promises even when external appearances seem to suggest otherwise. This kind of faith serves as a defining quality of a God-honoring life, for as Romans 1:17 tell us, “…it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith'” (NIV). This makes faith something we possess and a lifestyle that characterizes the attitude of a Godly person.
- Love. In the original language of this passage, the word “love” incorporates the idea of affection, good will, and benevolence (3) as well as generosity, kindly concern, and devotedness. (4)
- Patience (literally “an abiding under”) (5) is associated with the qualities of steadfastness, constancy, endurance (6)
- Gentleness is distinguished by the characteristics of mildness and humility. (7)
While the world often undervalues such things, each of these qualities reflects well upon anyone who seeks to be man or woman of God.
(1) G2150 eusebeia Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/g/godliness-godly.html
(2) “Faith” Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers
(3) G26 agape Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=g26
(4) G26 agape Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/agape
(5) G5281 hupomone Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/p/patience-patient-patiently.html
(6) G5281 hypomone Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=g5281
(7) G4236 praotes Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=g4236