So this morning, in reading through the Bible chronologically, I read the book of 1 Timothy. Knowing the overall theme of the book, I approached this morning’s reading with the attitude, “yeah, I know what this book is about, so this is gonna be a review for me.” Boy was I wrong. God had plenty to say to me.
“The goal of our instruction is love
from a pure heart and
a good conscience and
a sincere faith.”
~~1 Timothy 1:5~~
When asked what the great commandment of the Law was, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-39). Jesus gave the command – love God, love people. That command hasn’t changed.
The book of 1 Timothy is a handbook of sorts, where Paul explains to young Timothy how to instruct the church he was pastoring. 1 Timothy 1:5 is a sort of synopsis that a teacher would give his student. “The goal of our instruction is love”. But Paul didn’t stop there. He went on to describe what “love” would look like.
As I began to did into this “synopsis”, the little word “from” really stopped me in my tracks. The Greek word for the word “from” (ek) is a preposition that denotes the origin where an action or motion proceeds.
Paul is teaching that love begins and flows from three things. Love “from a pure heart” (devoid of pretense, with a motive that isn’t self-serving). Love “from a good conscience” (free from guilt; not like “I have to do this because I did that”, but loving because you know it’s the right thing to do). Love “from a sincere faith” (real faith, not just knowledge of what faith in Christ is, but living from the basis of your faith in Him).
Long story short — Love flows from the inside out.
As I continued studying, I looked at a few commentaries on this verse. I found David Guzik’s comments to be particularly powerful..
“The purpose of the law is found in its inward work upon the heart, not in mere outward observance. Without this understanding, it is easy to become shallow legalists who are only concerned with outward performance and appearance. If spending time in God’s word doesn’t produce love from a pure heart, a good conscience, or sincere faith in us, something is wrong. Legalism may make us twist God’s word, so that instead of showing love we are harsh and judgmental; instead of having a good conscience we always feel condemned knowing we don’t measure up; and instead of sincere faith we practically trust in our own ability to please God.”
Is that as convicting to your heart as it is mine?! I went from “this is review” to a big old “OUCH! I am forever grateful to the Spirit for continuing to teach me things I thought I already knew.