God’s Plans are Bigger and Better – June 28, 2026

One key truth: We can always trust God’s loving plans for us.

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. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12

God’s Plans are Bigger and Better

What do you love? I suppose you might have a few things come to mind right away. Your family… Chick-Fil-A… Sour Patch candies… PS5 with the boys… hanging out with friends… that one show you can’t stop binge-watching… doomscrolling for hours on your phone.

Your answers would probably change drastically though if the question was slightly different: What does your sinful nature love? Those are things we aren’t so eager to share—things often so embarrassing and shameful that we would hate for anyone ever to know what we sinfully love deep down inside our hearts.

Such is the problem with our sinful nature. It wants to grab onto and love anything that is not God. In selfish love for “me,” my sinful nature wants to indulge in my wants, my greed, my lust, my desires, my anger. And then, my sinful nature will even take good things (like some of the things in the first paragraph) and turn them into “god things” as we obsess about them and make them more important than God. For example, how easy is it to spend an hour on TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, or gaming without even realizing it—but five minutes in God’s Word feels long? You might also think about how often a good thing—like your phone—leads you into sinful things.

The apostle Paul’s words at the end of his first letter to young pastor Timothy were important for him then, and they are important for us now! He reminds us that as God’s people, we should flee from all these things. Instead of wasting time on meaningless things or indulging in sinful things, we should instead “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”

Easier said than done, right?

If we’re honest, some days it feels impossible. We know what God wants. We even want to do it. But then temptation shows up again.

Thankfully we have a Savior who came here to this world and did flee from all temptation and sin. Not only that, he crushed Satan on the cross as he took on himself our sins and paid for all that we have done. He wiped our slate clean and freed us from death and hell when he rose from the dead. He already won the victory for us!

So yes, it will be tough to battle our sinful nature. But when Paul tells us to “fight the good fight” and “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called,” we can be thankful that we aren’t doing it alone. Jesus who won the fight is with us every step of the way to give us strength to overcome, and Jesus who called us to heaven will walk with us to that eternal home.

Enjoy your good things. Have fun with friends and family. Waste an hour here or there on a video game. Devour a handful of Sour Patch while you watch videos of squirrels waterskiing. But as you enjoy what is good, be sure to love God the most. Because when God is first, all those other good gifts find their proper place. Pursuing him, his Word, and his ways will always lead to the greatest blessings and the most strength to fight the good fight of faith.

Prayer:

Lord, I confess that often my sinful heart wanders. It gravitates to things that don’t have much spiritual value, and it indulges in things that are sinful. Help me to fight the good fight of faith by pursuing righteous things. Guide me with your Word to see what those things are and strengthen me in your grace to live a life for you. Amen.