Tag: 1 Timothy 5

All Kinds of Evil

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in reaching for it, have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.” (1 Timothy 6:10, NET)

Paul’s words to Timothy cut straight to the heart of humanity’s struggles. Money itself isn’t the problem; it’s the love of money that brings ruin. When we long for riches, we’re making a dangerous confession: that we are not content with what God has provided. This greed exposes the idolatry of our hearts, where money becomes the means to satisfy our base desires. It’s no wonder Paul says this love is the root of all kinds of evil—it fuels selfishness, envy, dishonesty, and exploitation.

At its core, the love of money is a rejection of God’s sufficiency. When we fixate on wealth, we declare, “What You’ve given me isn’t enough.” This pursuit blinds us to the eternal treasure God offers. It’s like drinking salt water to quench thirst—it only leaves us more parched, chasing satisfaction that money can never deliver.

Consider this: money enables. It gives us the means to live out whatever desires dominate our hearts. If those desires are rooted in greed, pride, or lust for power, money becomes the fuel for destruction. But if our hearts are captivated by Christ, even wealth becomes a tool for His kingdom—serving others, meeting needs, and spreading the Gospel.

Paul’s warning isn’t theoretical. He points to those who’ve strayed from the faith, pierced through by their cravings. These aren’t hypothetical risks—they’re the stories of people who traded God’s eternal riches for temporary gain and paid the price.

The antidote to greed is found a few verses later: “Godliness combined with contentment brings great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). True contentment doesn’t come from having more; it comes from trusting fully in the sufficiency of God. It’s living in gratitude for His provision and believing that He truly is enough.

Today, ask yourself: What does your heart long for? Are you seeking riches, status, or possessions as a source of fulfillment? Or are you resting in the security of God’s provision? Let’s remember that wealth isn’t the problem—it’s the place we give it in our hearts. Pursue God with all you have, and He will be your treasure, satisfying every need in ways money never can.

What is the Wrath of God?

When we think of or hear about the ‘wrath of God’, the temptation is strong to imagine a vengeful God having a fit of rage and throwing fistfuls of lightning bolts down on a wicked populace to strike them dead. This idea comes from the capricious human-like gods popularized in Greek and Roman mythology, this is not the God of the Bible.

“Nice try, cowboy!” I hear some retort, “If God is not wrathful like Zeus or Jupiter, then explain Lot’s Wife (Genesis 19:26), Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6-7), and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) !”

These are all examples of disobedience stemming from lack of proper respect for God. Lot’s wife looked back when she was explicitly told not to do so. Uzzah reached out to touch the Ark of the Covenant when that was expressly forbidden (after choosing to transport the Ark in a way OTHER than what God’ had instructed), and Ananias and Sapphira lied to the church and withheld God’s portion from Him. So God met out the ultimate punishment for this after rescuing her family (Lot’s Wife), restoring glory to Israel (Uzzah), and raising the church (Ananias & Sapphira).

This was not some reckless decision based on a whim. These were consequences for actions taken in defiance of God. And as I read today’s Psalms of Asaph, I noticed a trend…

In Psalm 80 Asaph feels like God is blessing another nation due to Israel’s disobedience. But is this the case? Was God blessing Israel’s oppressor? Or was Israel a decidedly weak nation being propped up by Yahweh? Was God blessing ANOTHER nation, or did He simply remove His hedge of protection from Israel and allow the attacks of their enemies to proceed unencumbered? This is the wrath of God.

Is Psalm 81 we see that God WANTS to rescue us, He loves us! His sincere desire is that none should perish, but that all would come to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. However, He will not override our free will. God has chosen to restrain Himself so that only those who freely choose Him will draw near to Him, and those same people will be saved. So what happens to the rest? That is the wrath of God.

In Psalm 82 we see a scenario where God sits in judgement of all the other gods and warns them of the folly of their wickedness. Of course those gods do not exist (except in the minds of the people who created them), so the people who “follow” them are the ones who will bear the responsibility for the actions of their “gods”. This is the path of destruction. This is the wrath of God.

The worker earns his wages (1 Timothy 5:18). And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This is the wrath of God. It’s really not that complicated.

Does God Delight in Destruction?

Today’s devotional is a brief apologetic note.

It comes from the blessings and cursing section. The the blessing that is pronounced features some pretty noteworthy warnings, and the curse the is pronounced is… long. Very long. And quite descriptive. And both the blessing and the cursing are conditional on the actions of the people. And before I get to the apologetic note, I want to point out that God is not a blustery wind-bag. He means what He says. So we should expect that if Israel is disobedient in the ways described, the consequences described should come to pass. Moses himself said that this is how you will know a true prophet, right? So let’s keep our eyes on Deuteronomy 28 as we continue to read through the Old Testament together.

It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 

Deuteronomy 28:63(NASB)

Does the Lord really DELIGHT in the destruction of the disobedient? Most people will cite Ezekiel and say that this cannot be true:

Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

Ezekiel 18:23 (NASB)

It’s worth noting that these are two different words in Hebrew, even though they are the same English word. The word in Deuteronomy means “to be glad or rejoice“. The one in Ezekiel means “to be pleased in or inclined toward“. The latter is indicative of God’s will, desire, or preference. The former shows that God is pleased when justice is done. A worker earns his wages (1 Timothy 5:18), so the question is this: what are you earning? What wage will be paid to you?

It is God’s desire that all should be saved, but He will still rejoice when justice is done. We were told earlier in Deuteronomy to “have no pity for the guilty”. God won’t.

Deuteronomy 26:1-29:1 | 078/365