Paul wrote to Timothy, telling him that “godliness is profitable for all things” (1 Timothy 4:13). This included the life we live here on earth, and especially the life which is to come. There is truly no better way to live your life. It is a life of sacrifice, but the Creator has ordered our existence to reward righteousness, and punish evil. For example, the civil authorities. “Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same” (Romans 13:2-3).
It is for this reason Paul wrote, “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).
Do we trust in the Living God? That trust, if true, impacts the way we live our lives. God has promised us salvation in the last day, but that salvation is conditioned upon our response to the gospel, and the steadfastness of our faith. It is for this reason that Paul said, “to this end we both labor and suffer reproach” (4:10).
A willingness to work hard, to endure. The truism that nothing worthwhile is easy is true in this case. But the reward is great! Because we work, “we have the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (4:8).
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