The Three Actions of a Child of God – July 5, 2023

Read: 1 Timothy 6:11-16

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.
1 Timothy 6:11,12

The Three Actions of a Child of God

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What are the three actions of a child of God? First, flee. Second, pursue. Third, fight! Let’s talk more about each one:

First, flee. Do you know what it means to flee? The definition of flee is to run away. Maybe when you hear this word you think of a high-speed chase where the criminal is running from the police. Maybe you have had to run fast from a danger in your life. You can probably remember your heart beating out of your chest, the adrenaline rush, and how relieved you were when the danger was gone.

Paul is talking to his friend Timothy about the love of money and all the negative things that can happen when we put it before our relationship with God, He tells him godliness with contentment is a great thing. There’s danger in loving money. It’s like a trap that makes you lose your faith and the prize of heaven. Run away quickly! Flee from the temptation of loving money!

That leads us to our second action: pursue. To pursue means to run to something in order to catch it, like the policeman races to catch the criminal to keep us safe.

Here are six good things to chase after:

• Righteousness – to choose the right action over the wrong temptation
• Godliness – to love people like Jesus did and follow God’s rules
• Faith – to have complete trust or confidence in God
• Love – to be selfless and not expect anything in return
• Endurance – to continue or carry on even when things get really hard for a long time. This may demand some grit and determination like in a sporting event.
• Gentleness – to be kind and tender-hearted

Finally, the third one: fight. But aren’t we often told, “Stop fighting”? Not this time! Jesus fought for us on the cross with every drop of his blood to his last breath. His fight means we win! But he says, “I want you to fight too.” Fighting the good fight of faith involves fleeing from sin and pursuing good things. It is about deciding to fight the temptations and anything that pulls us away from God and instead leaning into him because he promises he’s right there with us in all three actions. He helps us flee temptation. He encourages us to pursue his good things. He loves to see us fight back against temptation!

Closing Prayer:

Dear God our almighty King! Thank you for loving us, forgiving us, and helping us to flee from the love of money. Help us to fight the good fight, pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness until we are victorious with you in heaven! Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• What were the three actions today’s devotion encouraged?
• What does it mean to flee?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• Recount as many “good things” as you can that today’s devotion encouraged you to pursue.
• Pick a fight with a bad thing you want to stop in your life with God’s help. What is it?

Questions for Middle School and Above

• Explain why “fleeing” is not a sign of weakness.
• Fleeing sin, pursuing good things, and fighting for your faith. Which one do you need to get better at? Explain why.