Do Not Neglect Your Callings

[Christsfreeservant]

“Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 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.” (1 Timothy 4:11-16 NASB’95)​

Again, these were Paul’s instructions to Timothy, a godly man, who had a position of authority within the gatherings of the church, so all of this is not going to apply to all of us. But there is no need to dismiss all of this, as related to us individually, for some of the same types of encouragements are given to the body of Christ, as a whole, in the Bible. So today we will look at what ways each of us can apply these truths to our Christian lives and to our walks of faith in obedience to the Lord in holy living, by God’s Spirit.

I will say here that, in the church, women are not to be in positions of rule and authority over men, and they are not to teach (instruct) men as people in positions of authority over men. But there may be exceptions to that when there are not enough biblically qualified men to fill the positions and the men in the church are willing to be taught by a woman. And both men and women are gifted of the Spirit and given their body part assignments by God, and both men and women can prophesy (preach the word of God).

And all of us are to proclaim (prophesy, preach) the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. And all of us are to be speaking the truth in love to one another so that none of us are taken captive by men (and women) in their cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming, and we end up following a false gospel and not the true gospel. And all of us are to be exhorting one another daily so that none of us are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin but so we follow Jesus in obedience.

So none of us get to just sit back and do nothing while others do all the work. The body of Christ needs to have all its parts working and participating in the encouragement, and in the strengthening of one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord. The church is lopsided if only a select few do all the ministering while the rest become spectators in a theatre production for an hour once a week and then resume life as normal until the next week. The church is what we are a part of all day every day.

[Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

So, with that said, yes, women generally are not to be in positions of commanding men to where they also have the authority to exercise church discipline over men. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot teach the commands of God for his church. We can, and we should. And no man should be in such a position of authority over a church congregation if he fails to meet the biblical qualifications for overseer, elder, and/or deacon, and pastor falls into that category. If you aren’t living it, don’t preach it.

Now the Lord Jesus has put me in a unique position where I am not in authority over anyone but where I just write down what he is teaching me from his word each day, and male or female may or may not read or listen to what the Lord gives me to share and to post on the internet. No one is under my authority, and no one is forced to listen or to read what the Lord gives me to share each day. I just obey the Lord and he takes it where he wants it to go and to whom. And I have no control over any of that.

So these writings are not geared specifically to male or female. This is just me obeying the Lord in sharing what he is teaching me from his word each day. And when I was much younger I was despised for my youth, because I spoke with too much wisdom and by the authority of the Scriptures for someone so young, I was told. And I was told to wait until I had grey hairs on my head, and then people would listen to me. But I am 75 now and I still have mostly all black hair with very few grey ones. But God is using me.

But the primary thing for all of us, before we start sharing the truth of God’s word with others, is that we make certain that our hearts are in the right place, that we are being called of God, and that we are following him in walks of obedience and not in deliberate and habitual sin. This is not saying that we will be perfect in everything, but that we should set a godly example before others in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Then we can begin sharing with other believers that they should do the same.

And all of us should be devoting ourselves to the public reading of the Scriptures, to exhortation, and to teaching the Scriptures. And the internet is a great place to be doing that right now, for this is where the people are mostly gathering, in the USA, anyway. And anyone can read what we post, and we do not have to be concerned about making sure that women are not usurping authority over men, because this is just us sharing our times of devotion with the Lord with the people, and they choose to listen or not.

And none of us should be neglecting our callings and our giftings from God which he has for us to do as our parts in the universal body of Christ. All of us should be seeking the Lord and his will and purpose for our lives, and then we should be obeying him in doing what he has called us to do, for the glory of God, in his power and strength, and for the salvation of human lives, and for the encouragement and strengthening of the body of Christ. For to this we are all called if we are of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus.

And this is critical! We all need to keep a close watch on ourselves and on our attitudes, actions, words, thinking, and behaviors, and on the things we are teaching others. And we must be led of the Spirit in what to write and/or to say to others, for them to read or to hear, and in what to post on the internet. And we should not be quick tempered or emotionally driven with quick responses without inquiring of the Lord as to how we should respond, and as to what we should say. Doesn’t mean we will do all perfectly, though.

But the critical thing here is that we are not teaching beyond what we are living, and we are not preaching what we know we are not living ourselves. Again, it doesn’t mean we are absolutely perfect in everything that we do and say, but that we should not knowingly teach one thing while we knowingly are living the opposite of that. That is called hypocrisy, and we are not to be hypocrites. But we should not use willful hypocrisy as an excuse for resisting the Lord and his will, and choosing to do nothing at all.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Lead Me Gently Home, Father

By Will L. Thompson, 1879

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.

Caution: This link may contain ads

Do Not Neglect Your Callings
An Original Work / March 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love