August 20, 2026 | Be Connected
Conduct among God's Household
Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:14-15(NIV)
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Devotional
When I read 1 Timothy 3:14-15 I think about how we do, or do not, encourage each other in our Christian conduct with our fellow man. It seems that we mostly do our own thing and hopefully we don’t mess up too badly.
When I look back at Timothy, I see an encourager. I see a person that really wants to have people follow Christ’s lead. I see a person that really wants Jesus’ direction to be guiding our direction. He really doesn’t want to see people just do their own thing. Our doing whatever we want seems good for us at the time, but is not the way of the Lord.
How many times do we think about Christ’s direction before we suggest anything? How different would our behavior be if we stopped first and prayed for Christ’s discernment? Would our advice be different? Would it be more like Christ’s direction if prayer entered our process first?
Do we have opportunities to drop someone a note with a Christian suggestion? Do we have an opportunity to drop a friendly card to someone with a Christian word of greeting or word of encouragement?
I see a couple of people at Fishers UMC that do this. I might receive a note of support or a note of thanks for something that I’ve done, and I really hadn’t given it much thought. After reading the note, I’m encouraged to follow up and check on that person that I’d reached out to. They are no longer just a thought but a Child of God being followed up on and cared for.
Lord, I ask for your direction in my relationship and my conversations with others, that I can help each of us be the “Timothy” in each other’s life. I pray that we can help each other see Christ’s direction in our lives and that we can be the Christ aroma in each other’s behavior.
