1Timothy:5-6

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Seeker Overlay ON

* Do not be angry with an older man if he has done something wrong , but talk kindly to him as you would talk to your father . Talk to the young men like brothers . * Talk to the older women like mothers . Talk to the young women like sisters . And be sure to keep a clean mind and heart in all this . * Help widow women , whose husbands are dead , if they have no one to help them . * If they have children or grandchildren , they should learn that the first place to do Gods work is in the home to help their own family . They should help their parents because their parents have helped them . This will please God . * A widow who has no one to help her , and is alone , trusts in God . Day and night she talks to God and asks him for the things she needs . * But a woman who spends her time in pleasing herself is really dead , even while she still lives . * Tell them these things so that they will do what is right . * A man must care for his own people . At least he must care for his family . If he does not care for them , he shows that he does not believe in God . He is worse than one who has never believed . * A widow who is over sixty years old , may be chosen to help the church people . But she must have been the wife of one husband . * People must speak well of the good works she has done . Has she brought up children ? Has she been kind to strangers and cared for them in her house ? Has she washed the feet of Gods people ? Has she helped people who were in trouble ? Has she done every kind of good thing to help people ? * But do not choose young women . When they begin to love other things more than Christ , they will want to marry again . * And that will be wrong for them because they have not kept their first promise . * Not only that , but they also become lazy . They walk about going from house to house . Not only are they lazy but they talk too much and tell stories about people . They tell things they should not tell . * So I would like young women to marry again and have children . They should care for their homes . They should do nothing that would make the enemy say wrong things about them . * Some have already turned away to follow Satan . * Do any Christians have in their families women whose husbands are dead ? If they do , they should help them . The church people should not have to care for them . Then the church can help the women who have no one to help them . * The leaders of the church people who rule well should be given greater honour and reward . At least do this for those who work hard in speaking and teaching . * The holy writings say , You may not tie the mouth of a cow when it is walking on the grain to beat it out . And also , The man who works should be paid for it . * Do not listen to a complaint against a leader if what he has done has not been seen and proved by two or three people . * Talk to those who live a wrong life and tell them to stop it . Talk to them in front of all the church members . Then the others will be afraid to do it . * I say this before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels of God . Do these things in an honest way . Do not treat one person better than another person . * Do not be in a hurry to place your hands on a man as a sign for him to be a leader . Do not take part in the wrong things another man does . Keep yourself clean . * Do not drink water only . But drink a little wine to help your stomach because you are sick so often . * The wrong things some men do can be seen clearly and show that they should be punished . But wrong things other people do are not seen until later . * So also , the good things are seen clearly . Even when they are not seen at first , they will be seen later . * Servants should respect their bosses in every way . Then people will not say wrong things about Gods name and what we teach . * Those who work for Christian masters should not take life easy just because the person they work for is a Christian . They should work all the better because they are loved by them . Teach these things and tell people to do them . * Is there anyone who teaches something different ? Or is there anyone who does not agree with the true words of our Lord Jesus Christ ? Or does he not agree with teaching about the things of God ? * If there is such a person , he is full of pride . He knows nothing . He wants to quarrel and talk about words . Such things make people jealous of each other . They think wrong thoughts about each other which are not true . * They quarrel . The minds of these men are bad . They do not know what is true . They think that worshipping God makes people rich . Keep away from such people . * It is true that people are much better off if they live to please God and if they are satisfied . * When we were born , we brought nothing into this world , and when we die , we can take nothing out of the world . * If we have food and clothes , that should be enough . * People who want to be rich have trouble . They get caught in a trap . They want many foolish things which are wrong for them . Because of this , men are lost and punished for ever . * Because people love money they do all kinds of wrong things . Some people have stopped believing in God because they want money so much . And it brings them many troubles . * But you belong to God , Timothy . Have nothing to do with all this . But do what is right . Do what God wants you to do . Believe in Christ . Be loving . Be patient . Be kind . * Work hard at believing in God more and more . Make sure that you get everlasting life ; God called you to have it . You stood before many people and said that you believed in Christ . That was the right thing to say . * Now we stand before God who gives life to all things . We stand before Christ who said what was right when he was in court before Pontius Pilate . I tell you to do this . * Do what you have been told to do . And do it so there will be nothing wrong , until our Lord Jesus Christ comes . * At the right time God will bring Christ back . Praise God ! He alone is ruler . He is King over all kings , and Lord over all lords . * He alone has everlasting life . He lives in such light that no one can go near him . No person has ever seen him , or can see him . May he have honour and respect and have everlasting power . May it be so ! * Tell the rich people in this world not to be proud . Tell them to trust in God not in short-lived riches . He gives us richly all things to make us happy . * Tell the rich people to do good . Tell them to do many good things . Tell them to give to other people , and to help those who are in need . * In this way they will store up good things for themselves for the time to come . Then they will get that life which really is the true life . * Timothy , take good care of what has been given to you . Some teachers say they know many things , but these things are not true . Do not teach these foolish things that do not come from God . Do not teach these things that do not agree together . * Some men have believed these things and have stopped believing in Christ . May God bless all of you .

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