Run Toward

1 Timothy 6:11 (CEB) · Passing the Flame

“But as for you, man of God, run away from all these things. Instead, pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.” — 1 Timothy 6:11 (CEB)

“Run away” is only half the instruction. Paul tells Timothy what to run toward: righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, gentleness. Those virtues have to be built, and sometimes the first step is clearing what’s in the way.

Last spring, at the end of a long day of yard work, I spent the last of my energy laying landscape fabric in a back corner of the yard. The fabric’s job is quiet and slow: choke out the weeds and grass underneath so the ground can be prepared, later, for new plantings. Exhausting work for something nobody would see. The ground looked identical the next morning. But underneath, what shouldn’t grow there was being starved out.

Pursuing righteousness looks like that. Sometimes the first move isn’t planting. It’s letting the fabric do its quiet work over what we need gone.

What are you laying down this week that you won’t see bloom for a long time?

Faithful God, give us patience for the unseen work of formation. Help us run toward the virtues that take seasons to grow, trusting the harvest belongs to you. Amen.