Picking back up where we left off with Ayden covering what it means to be content. Paul presses further. Imagine someone saying, “Once I make a little more money, I’ll finally be content.” They reach that number, and for a while they feel relieved. Then another expense appears, someone else seems further ahead, or a new purchase begins to feel necessary. The number changes, but the feeling of needing more remains.
There are real needs that money helps us meet. Paying our bills, providing for our families, and preparing for the future are meaningful responsibilities. But we need to examine what we are asking money to give us. Have we begun expecting financial success to establish our worth or provide a security that nothing can threaten?
In 1 Timothy 6:3–5, Paul described teachers whose departure from sound doctrine produced pride, conflict, and a distorted view of godliness. They treated religion as a means of gain. In verses 6–8, he explained the gain found in godliness with contentment. We entered the world without possessions, and we will leave them behind.
Now Paul develops the warning. The desire for riches can lead people into spiritual destruction. Then he turns directly to Timothy and describes the life a servant of God must pursue.
As we work through these verses, notice how Paul moves from what can draw us away from the faith to what we must actively pursue. He brings our desires, our character, and our hope for eternity into the same discussion.
The Danger of Riches (vv.9-10)
Paul begins with people who want to become wealthy. But first, let's pay attention to where his warning starts: with their desire.
It would be easy for us to think, “well I’m not rich, so I must be clear of this one.” You’d be wrong. Whether you have $1,000,000 or $1 to your name, the desire for, like we talked about last week, “more and more” can still exist. Q: Why would someone want to be rich? A: Nice things, retirement, setting things up for their kids when they’re gone, all things we think money can guarantee when all of those things were to rely on God for.
This desire can lead those to temptation, into a “snare”, along with senseless and harmful desires that usually lead us to destruction.
Paul then describes people falling into temptation and a trap. The pursuit has consequences they may not have considered when they first began defending it.
Temptation involves an attraction toward wrongdoing. An opportunity to make more money may become an opportunity to conceal the truth. The desire to get ahead may make taking advantage of someone seem acceptable. Wanting another person's success may give envy a place to grow.
The problem becomes especially serious when we begin changing the way we describe our conduct. Dishonesty becomes doing what is necessary. Neglect becomes a temporary sacrifice. Greed becomes ambition.
He then talks about a snare. Greek word pagis (pag-ece') which also means a trap, even a noose. The image of a trap adds the idea of captivity. A desire that seemed manageable can begin exercising control over the person who entertained it.
This can mean a couple of things, one of them being Debt. Not gonna turn this into a Dave Ramsey excerpt on whether debt in moderation is bad or not. But we’re all old enough to know debt can become a trap more than a tool faster than you think. A $1,400 mortgage and a $500 car payment sounds like “Money moves” till you lose your job…
But hey least you still own it right? Tell that to your lender when you miss enough payments. You’ll find out who actually owns your stuff. Proverbs 22:7
“...the borrower is slave to the lender.”
Another is what it does to your mental state, money itself is often more a mental game than it is anything else. Yet that round in round, dog after its own tail, feeling of more and more conditions you subconsciously more and more.
For example, someone might continually compare their life with what other people display. They purchase something to feel successful, enjoy it briefly, and then begin comparing again. Eventually, spending and status become tied to their sense of worth. They struggle to be grateful because they are always measuring what they have against what someone else possesses.
Yet, Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of Vanity! Says the Preacher. Vanity of Vanity. All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
Same time though, Paul also wrote in 1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. “
So where’s the line? You have to desire to provide for your family like the scripture tells us but you can’t desire it too much according to this one.
Paul elaborates the answer to us in v.10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” I’m more aligned to teach this text than most. It’s not because I hold a bachelors degree in Finance, it’s because at one point I worshipped finance. I was the exact person this text was talking about, I loved money. Growing up poor, and approaching homelessness at the time, I chose my degree because I wanted to learn everything there was to know about money. I could see it giving me a different life.
And I became exceptionally good at it.
My education wasn’t limited to school. Before I had even taken half my courses, I already knew much of what they were going to teach me. I had mentors I met with weekly. I took extra courses. If there was a book about it, I read it. If it was online, I watched it. If there was a song about it, I listened to it. Anything that could show me how to make more money had my attention.
Throughout school, I day-traded. I was pretty good at it, too. I paid a few bills that way. Being able to read a price chart and anticipate where the market might go opened doors for me in business school. In my professors’ minds, I was on a one-way ticket to a career in banking.
I prepared taxes for two of my previous part-time jobs. If I needed to borrow money, I knew how to find the lowest interest rate.
I was that money guy.
My family loved that about me, and they praised me constantly. My professors thought highly of me. They connected me with job opportunities that could have paid more money than I’m comfortable even mentioning here.
But the praise was what got to me the most.
My family was so proud of me. I had more friends then than I honestly have now. My girlfriend at the time loved that about me, too. She told me she couldn’t wait to marry me someday.
I had been homeless at eighteen, yet somehow I seemed to have so much going for me. People saw a future in me. And I could see it, too.
When I imagined where I would be by now, I pictured New York, Florida, or Texas. A salary of at least six figures before commission. Happily married. Surrounded by new friends who made me feel special for a change.
And the part that made it so powerful was how close it all felt.
This wasn’t some distant life I had no idea how to reach. I was studying for it. Building connections for it. Watching opportunities open in front of me. Everything I wanted seemed to be on its way.
For someone who had grown up with so little, that was a hard future to look away from.
And where was God in all of this?
I still went to church. I prayed from time to time. But most of my attention, most of my effort, and most of my excitement went toward learning about the dollar.
I could tell you whether GBP/JPY was bullish or bearish before I could tell you a Bible verse. I was quicker to explain how to divide your assets among separate business entities to limit liability than I was to share the gospel.
I was eager to tell people how to build their wealth. I gave far less attention to telling them about Christ.
God wasn’t missing. He just wasn’t first.
In my mind, the American dream—everything I thought a man could want—was only two years away.
But God had other plans for my life, and they weren’t built around how much money I could make.
I wish I could point to one exact conversation or some dramatic event that changed everything. But it happened more gradually than that.
Money is what we’re talking about today, but the Holy Spirit was dealing with every part of my life. My relationship, my friendships, the way I conducted myself—and now, my career.
The closer I got to everything I had wanted, the more strongly I sensed God telling me I was going the wrong way.
That was difficult to accept when everything seemed to be going so right.
Looking back, two experiences finally brought that conviction into focus.
Through school, I met people who were already where I wanted to be: regional banking leaders, proprietary traders, investment banking analysts, and others who had built successful careers in finance.
But when I asked about their lives outside of work, many struggled to tell me much. Their lives revolved around money. Making it, keeping it, growing it. Many had chosen a life that left little room for family, friends, church, or children.
There was always more money to make.
The sad part was how much of myself I recognized in them. In a way, those conversations felt like looking into a mirror. I understood their priorities because they were becoming my priorities.
And even as I recognized myself in them, I sensed God showing me where that life would lead. It wasn’t going to fulfill me. It wasn’t going to fix the things I was so afraid of.
The second experience was a conversation with Ayden while we were fishing.
He didn’t have to confront me. I don’t even know whether he realized how deeply this had taken hold of my heart. We were just talking about our futures.
But as I talked, I began to hate the sound of my own voice.
I could hear myself describing the life I wanted, and something about it felt wrong in a way I couldn’t ignore anymore. It’s difficult to explain beyond saying that I believe God was confronting me with what I loved.
The conviction wasn’t about one particular thing I had done or one sentence I had said. It was about what those plans revealed about my heart.
There is nothing ungodly about working in finance. The body of Christ needs people who understand money and know how to handle it wisely.
My problem was that money had become my god.
I left that day with Ayden convinced that the life I had spent years pursuing, ever since being homeless, wasn’t going to give me what I actually wanted.
And the problem went deeper than being disappointed with how my life might turn out.
I believed I was walking the broad road Jesus warns about in Matthew 7:13—the road that leads to destruction.
It was the road that seemed to offer everything: worldly security, status, possessions, sex, attention from women, and everything social media tells young people is “the life.”
I could see how a person might spend their whole life chasing those things and keep pushing God further aside. And I could see myself becoming that person.
If I had continued down that road, determined to have that life even if it meant refusing Christ, I would have had serious reason to question whether the faith I professed had ever been real.
Like the passage says, I would have wandered away and pierced myself with many pangs.
But thankfully, God had planted something in me back in high school. Before the disobedience of my later years became the direction of the rest of my life, He was at work in my heart.
He had planted a seed, and it began to flourish in the right season. Looking back, I can see His mercy in that timing—not a moment too early, and not a moment too late.
So I got off that road.
I could spend a long time explaining everything the Lord has helped me figure out since then. But most of you can see where I am today.
I sweat forty hours a week turning wrenches. I drive the same beat-up truck I’ve driven since high school.
My family barely talks to me. Before God began blessing me and using me in my current occupation, they would tell my mom how disappointed they were in me. They said I wouldn’t amount to anything doing what I do.
The same family whose praise once meant so much to me was now disappointed in the direction my life had taken.
I’ve lost most of the friends who cared about me and supported me back then.
I lost the girl I thought I was going to marry.
I cannot tell you that none of that hurt, most of it still taunts and haunts me still today.
And yet, it is well with my soul.
Jesus asks in Matthew 16:26:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
I think about the life I once pictured for myself. I think about how close it felt, how much I wanted it, and what I was willing to put ahead of God to get there.
Then I think about that question.
What would any of it have been worth if I had gained everything I wanted and lost my soul?
My life looks different from what I imagined it would.
I might not have everything I want, but I have everything I need.
I have God.
And that brings us to Paul’s next instruction. He tells Timothy what to flee, and then he tells him what to pursue.
Walking away from something that has ruled our hearts leaves us with a question: What will direct our lives now?
For me, that meant examining what I was becoming while I was so focused on what I could gain. And that is something every one of us needs to consider. What are we actively pursuing, and what kind of person is that pursuit making us?
Paul calls Timothy to pursue the character that should mark someone who belongs to God.
Look with me at verse 11.
The Pursuit of Godliness (v.11)
Notice the personal turn: “But you.” Timothy lives among people who are being drawn away by these desires. Paul calls him to a different course of life.
Then he addresses him as a man of God. That expression has an Old Testament background. Moses is called a man of God in Deuteronomy 33:1. Here it identifies Timothy with God and with service to Him. It reminds him whose purposes must govern his ministry and conduct.
This is addressed directly to Timothy in his particular responsibility. The principles of resisting greed and pursuing godliness also apply to every believer. Both men and women who belong to Christ must consider whether their lives reflect that allegiance.
Timothy’s role does not make him immune to temptation. The person responsible for teaching others still needs this warning himself. Earlier, in 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul told him to watch both his life and his teaching carefully.
That matters for anyone serving in the church. We can become skilled at recognizing a danger in someone else while giving ourselves permission to remain near it.
Paul’s command is to flee. There is urgency in that instruction. Timothy must turn away from the desires and conduct Paul has described.
The immediate context points especially to greed and the destructive pursuit of wealth in verses 9–10. The broader paragraph also exposes the false teaching, pride, and conflict associated with treating godliness as a way to gain something for ourselves.
It could mean refusing a profitable opportunity that requires dishonesty. It could mean stepping away from content that continually feeds envy. It could mean admitting to a trusted believer that the desire to appear successful has begun shaping our spending and priorities.
The particular step will depend on the temptation we face. We should be specific enough to act. A general statement that greed is wrong does little if we continue protecting the habits that feed it.
Paul uses a similar pattern in 2 Timothy 2:22. He tells Timothy to flee youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with other believers. Turning away from sin involves choosing a faithful direction and walking with people who will encourage it.
Belonging to God gives us a reason to respond honestly. We can acknowledge the temptation and take action before it becomes a pattern we defend.
Paul immediately tells Timothy what that new direction should be.
“…and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.”
Timothy is commanded to pursue these qualities. The Christian life requires deliberate attention to what we are becoming. Leaving a harmful practice creates a practical question: What faithful practice should take its place?
These six qualities describe a life shaped by God. They apply to Timothy’s whole ministry and conduct, including the way he responds to wealth and ambition.
Righteousness concerns conduct that accords with what God says is right. In this list of qualities to pursue, Paul is calling Timothy to practical uprightness. His decisions, relationships, and private conduct should reflect God’s standards.
When righteousness governs a financial decision, honesty remains necessary even when dishonesty would bring a better return. The question becomes, “Can I do this faithfully and honestly before God?”
Godliness is reverence for God expressed in the way we live. We have already seen how the false teachers distorted godliness by treating it as a means of gain. Timothy must pursue devotion to God for God’s sake. His teaching and his choices should show that he takes the Lord seriously.
This reaches beyond religious activity. We should ask whether our conduct away from church agrees with the devotion we express when we gather.
Faith involves trusting God and remaining committed to the truth He has given. The preceding verses described people wandering away from the faith. Timothy must continue believing God and ordering his life accordingly.
Faith becomes especially visible when obedience involves uncertainty or loss. We may have to act honestly without knowing how a situation will turn out. Trust in God allows us to obey without demanding that He first guarantee the outcome we prefer.
Love seeks the good of others. Where greed can make us view people as competition or opportunities for gain, love teaches us to consider their needs. This includes generosity, patient attention, and a willingness to serve when there is little personal benefit.
A useful question is whether the people around us experience our concern for their good. Knowing the right words about love should lead to actions that benefit someone besides ourselves.
Perseverance, also expressed as steadfastness, is endurance in faithfulness under difficulty. Timothy’s work in Ephesus included opposition and the need to confront false teaching. He would need to continue obeying when the work became tiring and results were slow.
We need that same endurance when obedience stops feeling rewarding. The length of a trial does not make God’s Word less trustworthy. Perseverance means continuing to depend on Him and do what is right through it.
Gentleness concerns the way we deal with others, especially when there is disagreement or provocation. It allows us to speak truth with care and restraint. In 2 Timothy 2:24–25, Paul joins patient teaching and gentle correction with the responsibility to address opposition.
That connection matters. Timothy must confront error, and his manner of doing so must reflect the God he serves. Harshness is not made faithful simply because the person using it has identified a real problem.
We might find that we remain outwardly honest while becoming resentful. We may continue serving while speaking harshly. Paul’s list calls us to examine the whole person rather than using one area of obedience to excuse another.
For one person, it may be telling the truth about a mistake. For another, it may be giving time to someone they have treated as an inconvenience. Someone else may need to have a necessary conversation with patience instead of anger.
These are ordinary places where the pursuit of godliness becomes visible. Paul now reminds Timothy that continuing in this life will require perseverance in the faith he has confessed.
The Fight of Faith (v.12)
Paul describes the life of faith as a fight. The Greek verb agōnizomai can describe contending in a contest or struggling against opposition. Here it communicates the effort involved in remaining faithful amid pressures that would draw Timothy away.
This command belongs beside the gentleness Paul has just required. Timothy must contend for the truth without becoming quarrelsome or cruel. Courage and patience have to remain together.
Earlier, in 1 Timothy 1:18–19, Paul connected Timothy’s spiritual warfare with holding faith and a good conscience. That helps us understand the present instruction. Timothy must guard the truth entrusted to him and continue living in agreement with it.
The fight includes resisting the desires described in verses 9–10. It includes continuing to trust God when obedience is costly, rejecting teaching that distorts the gospel, and refusing to let disappointment become permission to sin.
A: Timothy is contending for the faith God has entrusted to him and the life to which God has called him. The struggle serves a worthy purpose and must be carried out in a manner consistent with that purpose.
In practical terms, this perseverance takes shape in continued prayer, attention to Scripture, repentance, and obedience. It also includes receiving help and correction from other believers. We should expect to need the means through which God strengthens His people.
Then Paul tells Timothy to take hold of eternal life.
We need to read that command alongside the words that follow: Timothy has been called to this life. Paul is already addressing him as a believer. At the beginning of the letter, he called him his true child in the faith.
Paul has also already explained that Christ came to save sinners and that eternal life is received through believing in Him—1 Timothy 1:15–16. The command to take hold does not turn salvation into a wage Timothy earns through sufficient effort.
Ephesians 2:8–10 makes the relationship clear. Salvation is God’s gift, received through faith, and those saved by His grace are created for good works. Grace gives rise to an obedient life.
Here, Timothy is called to embrace and persevere in the life God has given him, allowing its reality to govern how he lives. Eternal life includes knowing God through Jesus Christ, as Jesus explains in John 17:3, and it reaches beyond the present age.
That gives this command particular force after the warning about riches. Possessions belong to a world we will eventually leave. Eternal life directs our hope beyond what our present circumstances can provide.
If we take that hope seriously, it affects what we are willing to surrender for obedience. We can accept a financial loss rather than act dishonestly. We can share resources because keeping everything for ourselves is no longer our highest concern. We can remain faithful when doing so brings little recognition.
Paul then recalls Timothy’s good confession before many witnesses. Timothy had openly professed his faith, and Paul calls him to continue living in keeping with it.
The verse does not identify the precise occasion. A public profession associated with conversion and baptism is a reasonable possibility, but we should not present that reconstruction as something the text explicitly states. The clear point is that Timothy’s confession was known to others and remained relevant to his present responsibility.
That question applies to what we pursue, how we handle pressure, and the choices we make when obedience costs us something. A remembered profession of faith should lead us to continued trust in Christ today.
For the believer who feels weary, the command to fight should lead us to seek God’s strength. In Colossians 1:29, Paul describes his own labor as depending on the power of Christ working in him. We need that dependence as we continue obeying.
Return to the person in our opening illustration who believed one more financial milestone would finally make life enough. Paul asks us to examine the direction of that hope. What are we pursuing, and where will it lead?
The warning is serious: greed can draw people away from the faith. The direction Paul gives is equally clear. Turn from what feeds that desire, pursue the character God commands, and continue in the faith you have confessed.
Application:
Love God, not financial gain. Money will never be able to provide what only God can in your life.
Pursue things that last in the Lord, not things that will perish when he returns.
Fight the good fight of faith, even if it means you lose a lot along the way.