“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed”

(1 Timothy 4:4-6 NIV)

Everything God Created Is Good

“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4 NIV).

We must be very careful in applying these words. Intoxicating liquor, for instance, is sometimes described as “a good creature of God.” But surely that term is not legitimate. Whatever grounds there may be for defending its use, can this text be alleged as one? By the time a substance reaches our lips, it has been greatly altered by the process of fermentation. It can hardly be called God’s good creature in that form.

When we are quite sure that we are dealing with one of God’s pure and unadulterated gifts, such as human love, friendship, the beauties of nature, wholesome food, fresh celebration, the innocent mirth of a Christmas gathering, we must distinguish between God’s gifts and our abuse of them, between His creation and our distortion of it. There are things in our lives which are not His creation or gift, and which we must resolutely refuse and put away. There are others which come to us clearly and absolutely from His hand.

Rejoice in every good thing which the Lord gives. Rejoice! Do not enjoy things as though under the sword of Damocles, suspended by a thread. Be careful to maintain the spirit of thanksgiving and prayer. What you can thank God for or use in His name and for His glory, what lifts us from the gift to the Giver, or is capable of being prayed over with no shadow of misgiving, is innocent and healthy.

Watch only against the intrusion of self. Whatever we place between ourselves and God, or rest on apart from God, or make the aim and core of our life, is hurtful and must pass through the fire. The way to rid yourself of its poison is to insist on making it a subject of thanksgiving.

Consecrated by the Word of God and Prayer

“Because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:5 NIV). Sanctify. Come away from. Make holy. Separate. Consecrate. Dedicate. Set apart to be used exclusively by God.

What is “it?” It is anything and everything. It is anyone and everyone. It is anything you are about to do or say. Before you do it, make certain in prayer that the Father has told you to do it. Before you say it, be sure by prayer that the Father has told you to say it. It is everything you think, feel, or will. It is everything you plan, wish for, or dream about.

Some people refuse to go outside before checking the weather. Some people refuse to invest any of their money until they have talked with their broker. Some athletes and authors will not sign a deal until they have talked with their agent or attorney. What about you? Who sets things apart in your life? Who gives approval before you take the next step?

True surrender means that everything in life is sanctified by prayer. No trip, no purchase, no decision, no word or action is taken without first sanctifying it by prayer. Surely we know that nothing happens without prayer. By prayer, the believer hears from God first and then communicates with others. By prayer, the believer sanctifies or dedicates everything to God’s use.

Do we truly know that we should own nothing? If everything, including possessions, has been consecrated to God by prayer, then we have surrendered all rights and become stewards instead of owners. Every steward knows that everything and anything in his hand, including his own life, belongs to another. Once it is sanctified by prayer, you can no longer pick it up, claim it, use it, or neglect it according to your own volition. It belongs to God.

Paul now shifts from the previous warning of false teachers and focuses on the true teacher Timothy. While giving admonition to others concerning the things which had been mentioned, he was now exhorted to fulfill in his own life the practical piety which the truths of the faith are designed to effect. The exercise of godliness would reap its own benefit in this life and its reward hereafter. The discharge of his duty in ministering to and caring for the saints would need courage, backed up by a godly example in character and conduct, particularly in the public reading of Scripture, exhortation, and teaching.

A Good Minister of Christ Jesus

“If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed” (1 Timothy 4:6 NIV).

In pointing out these things to the brethren, believers must not run from false teaching but expose it. We often shy away from this so we don’t come across as negative, or as know-it-alls, or we’re simply afraid of offending someone. But don’t be afraid to say, “That’s wrong, and here’s why.” When we look at the verb here it is a gentle one and carries the idea of suggesting rather than ordering. The best kind of leadership is not control but suggestion, not dictatorial but relational.

People are motivated most strongly by what emerges from within, not what is demanded from without. A real leader helps others arrive at what they instinctively know is best. Note the family affection in the word “brothers and sisters.” The church is not rigidly structured like an unwieldy corporation with a plethora of management levels. It is primarily a family of believers who have committed themselves to God and to one another. Pass it on with grace.

Outward acts of self-denial profit little. What will it avail us to mortify the body if we do not mortify sin? No diligence in mere outward things could be of much use. The gain of godliness lies much in the promise, and the promises to godly people relate partly to the life that now is, but especially to the life which is to come. Though we lose for Christ, we shall not lose by Him. If Christ be thus the Savior of humanity, then much more will He be the Rewarder of those who seek and serve Him. He will provide well for those whom He has made new creatures.

If we instruct the brother or sister in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Some new Christians feel no guilt about a wrong until their conscience is instructed. Two young college students were living together, though they were not married. When they received Christ as their Savior, they continued their same lifestyle until they learned that it was sinful. They believed it was all right to live together if you really care about each other. But when they discovered what the Bible teaches, they got married. Their conscience was instructed by the Word of God, and they responded in obedience.

Some believers, on the other hand, live with continual guilt feelings for no good reason. A woman told us she is often miserable after returning from a social gathering. She said, “I wondered, should I have mentioned that about Mary and Bob? Did I say it right? Was I too outspoken?” This woman isn’t dishonest, rude, or gossiping. She has an overly sensitive conscience. It too needs to be instructed from the Word of God.

In the early church, people with a seared conscience were emphasizing man-made rules instead of what God requires. “By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:2-3 NASB).

Here is the balance Paul calls us to: receive God’s good gifts with thanksgiving, consecrate everything by the word of God and prayer, and instruct others with gentleness and grace in the truths of the faith. A conscience instructed by Scripture neither dismisses sin as harmless nor invents guilt where none exists. It knows what God has created as good and receives it with thankfulness. It knows what God has forbidden and refuses it with resolve.

And it does all of this through prayer. Not prayer as a ritual, but prayer as a constant consecration of every thought, word, action, possession, and decision to the God who owns it all. This is what it means to be nourished on the truths of the faith. This is what it means to be a good minister of Christ Jesus. Everything consecrated. Everything sanctified. Everything received with thanksgiving. Everything surrendered to the One to whom it all belongs.