I Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
The Way to Help Others
A weekly concern we have here at the Ranch in the summer is how to follow up decisions that young people make at camp. It is a question that is shared by the adults who come from all over the country with young people from various churches and who then go back home with those young people. For the rest of the year, their concern is to follow up the work that God has been done in the hearts of young people at camp.
I Timothy 4:16 is a good reminder of how we can help others. It says, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” If I want to help other people, the way to do that is to take heed to my own personal life and to God’s timeless truth, God’s Word. Those who need help are never going to rise above the level of those who seek to help them. If I want to help one of my children do right, the best way to do that is to do right myself. Take heed to yourself, and pay attention to God’s truth.
I Timothy 3 says that if a man wants to be a bishop, an “overseer,” he desires a good work. It is not a bad thing to want that ministry; it is a good thing. But there are certain things the Bible says “a bishop then must be…” You see, God is not merely concerned about what a person accomplishes, He is concerned about who and what a person is.”
The idea of saying to children, “Do as I say, not as I do,” just won’t work. My children should honor me, they may obey me, but they will almost certainly copy me. They don’t copy what they think I am doing; they copy what they see I am doing.
Today, there are a lot of people who need your help. The best way to begin to help such people is to take heed to your own personal health spiritually, and then to take heed to the Word of God that gives you guidance to that end.