Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Tim. 6:11)
I was shocked when I read an article about athletes who once were sports stars but ended up losing it all. Some filed for bankruptcy, others ended up in jail, many were involved in scandals, a great number were divorced, and some owed exorbitant amounts of money in child support. Once they were all millionaires, today they are broke. Something went wrong; things got out of control. The article claimed it was mismanagement of funds. But could it be that underneath there was a mismanagement of affections?
Paul highlighted the problem of misplaced affections. We were created to love God and others. Making anything else the object of our affection is detrimental. The love of money is a root that destroys the foundation of any structure and infrastructure that stands in its path. The problem does not lie in the money itself but in our affections. We harm ourselves and sabotage our own lives when we place our love on objects and not subjects (God and others).
Paul highlighted six things in the text that need to be pursued and loved: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Undoubtedly, we—who are encouraged to be men and women of God—need to set our affections on such virtues.
Chase after the virtues of godly living.
Luigi Peñaranda is an assistant professor of Christian ministry at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
