Lesson 13: Faithful in your personal life
1 Timothy 4:12-16 - www.bible.com/bible/59/1ti.4

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

As we read in our last lesson, making our life in Jesus Christ into a life which honors Him with everything we do (Colossians 3:17) requires the same dedication to training any athlete hoping to be part of the Olympic Games would exercise. In another study we have, “This Gift Called Salvation,” we discover the 33 things God gave or did for us in the moment we accepted His gift and He saved us. These, like the faith mentioned in the last lesson, are gifts given to us in their “seed” form and it is our responsibility to make them part of our life.


Someone might object saying such a hard life of constant training leaves no time for us to enjoy life. The truth is, however, that things we normally think of as part of enjoying life provide only a temporary happiness which always ends in discontentment. It cannot be otherwise, for nothing in this world can ever produce lasting happiness. Nothing!! Only God’s way can ever produce lasting joy, because He created us and knows every atom of our being, including how He created us to react to things. Only by living His way can we ever truly say we are contented with whatever circumstances are around us (Philippians 4:11-12).

God also gives each of us who are His children at least one Spiritual Gift. When we use this gift or gifts His way and for His kingdom (rather than for our own benefit) they also give us a great sense of satisfaction and contentment. If, for example, our gift is to teach, and we use the teaching to be able to make a great deal of money, teaching will become in us a great source of discontent and weariness. But when we use it for Him, it is a constant source of joy and encouragement because He will teach us more through what we study in preparation than we are EVER able to pass on to others whom we teach.

As the last verse of our Scripture today says, we must be persistent in being faithful in our personal life; we can never believe we have achieved all we can be (Philippians 3:13-14).
 *Think back to the last time you pursued pleasure on your own terms, and then to the last time you allowed God to use your spiritual gift(s) to honor Him. Which experience resulted in true, long-lasting joy? What is the next step you can choose to take to be faithful to God as He trains you for His service? Will you take that step?