August 07, 2026 | Be Connected
Keep the Gospel Central
Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:18-20(NIV)
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Devotional
A charge I keep to have,
A God to glorify,
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
By Charles Wesley
In our scripture today, Paul is teaching Timothy. Timothy was gifted and had been called to ministry. He had a charge and was entrusted to keep the gospel central. This had been prophesied.
Keeping the gospel central. What does that actual mean? It means to fight the good fight with good warfare. We are to point ourselves as well as others to God’s character. This is to be in God’s likeness. We teach and correct out of gentleness. Sometimes it’s having hard conversations over coffee warning our brothers and sisters not to go down that dark path.
Hymenaeus and Alexander shipwrecked their faith. They were handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. Shipwreck makes me think of Gilligan’s Island and how 7 people were stranded after a 3-hour tour. They were shipwrecked after a storm came through. Were they ever rescued?
The good news for us is that the church’s message for the last 2,000 years is that Christ came to die for us. He saves shipwrecked people and gives them a new start. Christ is a friend of sinners and is near to the broken hearted. Pray to steer clear of the rocks in life and keep the gospel central to your heart.
Here is John Wesley’s last verse to his hymn
“A Charge to Keep I Have”.
Help me to watch and pray,
And still on thee rely,
O let me not my trust betray,
But press to realms on high.
