Lesson 10: Faithful in your service
1 Timothy 3:8-16 - www.bible.com/bible/59/1ti.3
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that,
15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

In our last lesson we learned how serving others is God’s way to lead them. In these verses we find that our service must have no other motive than to serve Him to the best of our ability. Again, it doesn’t matter where our service is – on a job, in our family, for our church, or around our community – people should see us having the same attitude in serving God no matter where they see us.


In today’s verses, serving in our church is in focus. As we also read in last lesson’s verses, a leader in a church should always be someone who has already proven their ability to serve God well everywhere else in their life. We must never separate who someone is in their personal life from who they are in their public or leadership life to determine if they are a good candidate for serving in our church. Doing so leads to charges of hypocrisy from people in our communities, and in such a way we actually lead them to blaspheme God because of our actions (see Romans 2:24).

Verse 16 of our Scripture today is a progression by which Jesus was proven to be a worthy servant-leader, and should be our example for our life as well:
Manifested in the flesh – His life was blameless wherever He went
Vindicated by the Spirit – the Spirit of God bore witness of Jesus that He was without sin (Jesus never made this claim for Himself)
Seen by angels – the angels of heaven were watching Jesus His entire earthly life, and they watch us too (Luke 15:7-10)
Proclaimed among the nations – Jesus did not proclaim Himself to the world, His disciples did so
Believed on in the world – many came to trust God because of the witness given about Jesus
Taken up in glory – just as Jesus was taken to Heaven, so will we be one day soon. Will we have completed all our work as Jesus had completed all God sent Him to do?

 *What in your life today could cause someone else to say, “If he/she is what it means to be a Christian, I want nothing to do with God!”? Were you convicted of any inconsistencies in your motivation for service within the different areas of your life as you read this lesson, and what will you do about it?