1 Timothy 6:11-13

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Tim. 6:11-13

…but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Tim. 2:22-23

What is it that you pursue? We all have things we want or dreams we chase, but what do we pursue? When we chase our dreams or desires, we are often willing to give up some things to obtain the others. We stop eating out or change our diet or choose to stay home. Sometimes we really do pour blood, sweat, and tears into seeing our desires fulfilled. If we are capable of that kind of sacrifice on a human scale, shouldn’t we then be willing to give that kind of pursuit to Godly goals?

This scripture lists the Godly things we should all be pursuing every bit as fully as we pursue our own human desires:

Righteousness: Is simply following the Word of God and doing what it tells us to do. It is simply making choices to do the right thing no matter how we look or what it costs us.
Godliness: Is being like Jesus. It’s loving like He does, walking in intimate relationship with the Father like He did, and doing as Jesus did as an outpouring of our relationship with God.
Faith: We get our faith from three sources. We are given a measure of faith to believe, we can pray in the Spirit, which builds us up in holy faith, and we can hear the Word of God.
Love: Is a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit and with God’s power.
Patience: Can be gained by waiting on the Lord. When we focus on Him and His faithfulness, we find our patience growing.
Gentleness: Is when we remember to be careful with each other’s feelings and needs.
Peace: We find peace when we lock our hearts onto God’s faithfulness and remember that God can be trusted through difficult times and that He has promised that He makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Let’s shorten our focus. Let’s focus on Jesus, pursue Him with all our hearts and let these things overtake us.

Lost in pursuit of Him,
Pastor Darrell