Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. — 1 Timothy 6:2b-5

At this point, Paul begins the conclusion of his letter to Timothy. And it's going to feel like he is just throwing a bunch of random thoughts at him. But he is not. He's repeating, reminding, and reiterating everything he has already stated. Which, by the way, is what good mentors do. We need to remember that saying something once is never enough. I need reminders too, so I like it when people repeat and reiterate. When I am in the gym, I want to be reminded when my lift doesn't look right. When I am not performing in my job, I like to be reminded about a goal we are trying to hit. When I get lazy in my leadership as a father, I want to be reminded to step it up. Why? Because these people and their promptings help me to perform and lead better. And that's why Paul repeats, reminds, and reiterates some things to Timothy.

And the predominant item on Paul's mind as a mentor is inaccurate teaching in Ephesus. This means that his letter begins and ends with the same topic. And he wants Timothy to get into these Ephesian churches and address this bad teaching with good teaching that agrees with the things that Jesus spoke.

I feel this same burden every day with you. I feel the weight of teaching accurate doctrine that aligns with the teachings of Jesus. The weight of this is private to me, and yet it's profound as I sit to write each day. Because as I consider what I want to write or speak to you, I know that the words I use have a bearing on the things you think and the way you believe, and I feel this burden to get it exactly right. Which is what I hope you want.

So back to the text.

Then Paul drops in three signs, or indicators, of an inaccurate teacher. They are all found in verse four:

Inaccurate teachers are arrogant.
Inaccurate teachers spew senseless ideologies.
Inaccurate teachers argue with meaningless words and terms.

Does this sound familiar? It should. This is exactly what is happening in the world. It's happening today at an unstoppable rate. And it is finding its way into every institution, including churches, and people are buying into it and them.

So the call to action from this is two-fold. First, we have to be on the lookout for arrogant people who spew senseless ideas from made-up terminology. Second, we have to counter this with accurate teaching based on the accurate and sensible teaching of Jesus Christ. Which assumes four things:

We are getting the truth from the book of truth.
We are actively discerning truth from untruth.
We are applying the truth to our lives.
We are countering untruth by teaching the truth.

So what do you need to do differently today? Share that below. And let's be people of the truth, who live by the truth, discern the truth, and tell the truth, and not be proud people who spew senseless ideologies from made-up terminologies.

ASK THIS: What do you need to do differently?

DO THIS: Share that below.

PRAY THIS: God, convict me of the truth, so I can speak and live the truth.

PLAY THIS: Truth I'm Standing On.

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