“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.“
1 Timothy 6:11
–
JULY 8, 2025
When Paul admonishes his readers to take off or flee from something, he commonly pairs this with a command to put on or pursue something else. 1 Timothy is no exception as the apostle lays out six attributes to pursue. Pursue is an appropriate word choice, for we will never fully achieve righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, or gentleness in this life.
Actually, here Paul is asking us to pursue something we already have in Christ, because perfect righteousness is bestowed upon those who have received Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord. This is an interesting dilemma; we know we have received the righteousness of Christ, and we also know how short we fall as sinners continually in need of grace.
We pursue that which we value. As believers we value righteousness, right living. The world scoffs at righteousness claiming that it takes all the fun out of life. But our God is no killjoy. He desires His people to experience abundant life, and righteousness is a core piece of that. Righteousness permits a transparency that comes from integrity and truthfulness. Righteousness is also thoughtful and kind. It avoids words or actions that produce shame or hurt. Clearly no one is truly righteous, but we pursue righteousness because in doing so we are gradually being conformed to the image of Christ.
There are active and passive elements in this process. We desire to demonstrate righteousness, thus we seek to measure our words in order to edify and direct our actions in ways that bring goodness to the lives of others. None of us do this perfectly, and sometimes we fail miserably. On the other side, we are assured that even though we fall short, our Lord is at work teaching us lessons of dependence upon Him and encouraging us to keep righteousness as our goal.
Our Lord Jesus Christ modeled perfect righteousness; in His presence people experienced acceptance while at the same time they received the challenge to be transformed. We find ourselves in a similar place to those who crowded around our Lord to hear His words. We are in Christ fully accepted as citizens of His kingdom, but we are also aware of our ongoing need for transformation. This is where the gospel becomes very practical. As people forgiven of our sin on the basis of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, our risen Lord continually declares us righteous—and we believe it. When you know you have received righteousness, you pursue it.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- How does the fact that in Christ you have been made fully righteous influence your decision-making?
- How are you pursuing righteousness today?
- What would be some evidence of transformation in your life over the course of your walk with Christ?
Church Reading Plan: Joshua 10; Psalm 142-143