Burning Out

(This week I'm taking a break from my blog series over 1 Timothy 4.12. The following post is an article I wrote for North Macarthur church of Christ's bulletin)

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by something that you just wanted to give up or quit? If so then you have had the feeling of being burnt out. You can get the feeling of being burnt out from everywhere. Sports, relationships, or all kinds of other activities can be ended as a result of burnout. Burn out is the result of not being able to take the pressure of something. Maybe you feel like you can’t overcome certain odds, so you give up. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by certain duties you have to perform, so you quit. Unfortunately, this happens to us in our Christian life as well. 

It’s no secret that as Christians we face all kinds of difficulties. We face daily the pain of verbal persecution. We are faced all the time with different types of sin and, unfortunately, many times we give in to it. All of this negative pressure around can cause us to want to give up. So what do we do? How do we keep from burning out completely and falling away?

Many answers could be given to this question. The one I want to look at briefly though is mentioned in Galatians 6.2 which says: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

One of the simplest ways to prevent someone from completely burning out is to help them bear their burden. It’s tough to go through all the struggles of life by ourselves. The fact of the matter is we need help from other Christians to make it through. It’s important that we help each other with whatever burdens we may be carrying. We’ll never know if someone is carrying a burden or not unless we talk to them so the challenge this week is to say more than just a friendly “hello” to someone. Actually see how the person you’re talking to is doing and, if they have a burden, then help them bear it! 

Most people feel burdened because they have so much going on in their life. In order for us to bear their burden we must help them remove some of those things that they shouldn’t have to worry about. Helping alleviate some of the burdens they have can be as easy as watching their kids for them one night so they can focus on the big burden they’re struggling with. You could do something like mow their lawn, say some kind words to them or bring them food to eat. Bearing someone’s burdens, when you get down to it, is not a difficult thing at all. You’d be surprised at what one little gesture can do. You could be the difference maker as to whether someone sticks with Christianity or burns out.  –Jack D.

p.s. There will be no post next week (7/26) because I will be busy at Preacher Training Camp. 

But Set the Believers an Example: Love

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4.12 ESV)

Love is a word we throw around quite often. We “love” our family and at the same time we “love” our favorite store or sports team (Go Cowboys!). Love in our culture today has many different meanings and uses. However, in the language of the New Testament specific words were used in reference to the type of love being talked about. This “love” in 1 Timothy is no exception. The original Greek word used here is the word “agape”. Now I’m no Greek scholar (or student yet for that matter) but if I had to give a definition for this word it would be a little something like this:

Love: wanting what is best for someone other than your self 

This to me appears to be the essence of “agape” love. And if this is the case, then it would appear that Timothy is to be an example in self-sacrifice. If “love” is wanting what is best for someone else than Timothy, at many times, is going to have to give up some of his liberties to show “love” to the rest of the church. It would only stand to reason then that this is how we show love to our brethren. We have to be willing to make sacrifices. 

What is a sacrifice? I would say that a sacrifice is something that is inconvenient for you. It could be inconvenient for you in the amount of time spent, or money spent. It could be inconvenient for you because it requires you to step out of your comfort zone. It might even be inconvenient for you because you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work! But, I believe that if you make some kind of a sacrifice then you’re showing love to the people around you. You’re showing love because you’re giving up a part of you (time, money, effort, etc.) in order to help someone else. This is what Timothy was charged to do! He was to “be an example in love” by being a person who is willing to be sacrificial of themselves. 

This week I want to challenge you to do just that. Be sacrificial of yourself. It doesn’t matter to me how you accomplish that. You may be really busy, but find some time to give up for the benefit of someone else. Maybe you’re really tired and have been working non-stop but someone needs help moving some furniture. Give up some of the time you would be using to sleep and go help them move. Do something for someone else, even if it requires the giving up of something that you wanted to do. This is only one way to “love” someone else, but in my opinion (and you may disagree) this is the best way. I hope you’ll show “love” to someone this week, even if it costs you! – Jack D.

But Set the Believers an Example: Conduct

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4.12 ESV)

This week’s blog post is continuation of a 5-part series I am doing over 1 Timothy 4.12. Last week we talked about setting the believers an example in speech. This week we’re going to talk about setting an example in our conduct. 

What does conduct mean? Our conduct is the simply how we behave. It’s how we act from day to day. It’s what people see from us. With that in mind I think it’s obvious why Paul mentioned it in this letter to Timothy. How we act is important! I’m reminded of a quote (I can’t remember who said it) that goes a little something this:

“You may be the only Bible that people ever read”

I don’t know about you but there are times when I think about this quote and then I compare it to my life. I ask myself whether or not my conduct has been a good representation of Christ that day. Unfortunately, there are some days where I haven’t been the example that I should’ve been and I think about whether or not my actions that day had a negative impact for Christ. 

One example of this can be taken from this past Wednesday. Every Wednesday myself and several others get together to play basketball. Well, this past week I wasn’t doing as well as I thought I ought to have been and as a result I got frustrated. Out of my frustration I ended up pushing a guy who went up for a lay-up. He didn’t get hurt or anything like that but, you absolutely never push someone when they’re up in the air like that. There were a couple guys who were non-Christians that were playing with us and during the next day or so I wondered what affect my conduct that night had on those non-Christians who were around me. 

As a result of my conduct that night who knows what affect I had on them? It’s quite possible that they never even noticed. However, it’s quite possible that now when they think of Christians in general they’ll think of the Christian that they saw getting angry and upset because he wasn’t playing like he thought he could.

I told you this story for two reasons, 1) to show how important our conduct is and 2) to show you that our conduct is a result of our attitude (or thoughts). I pushed my friend because I was feeling frustrated. I acted out in anger because I felt angry! My conduct was a result of my attitude.

 

Our conduct is something that is a very powerful example, but it’s up to us to decide whether our conduct is going to be a good example…or a bad one. This week I want to challenge you to examine your conduct. Ask yourself whether getting angry, sad, or frustrated is appropriate for the situation you’re in. In my case, getting frustrated was not an appropriate frame of mind. I only wish that I had figured that out before I acted negatively on my thoughts and not after. Don’t wait until it’s too late! Examine your thoughts beforehand so that you don’t make the mistake of setting a negative example in conduct. –Jack D.