The concept of tithing can be a point of contention amongst Christians.  Some practice it almost religiously while some on the other extreme reject it utterly. We believe this can be resolved by a careful examination of Scripture to unlock the truths about tithing.  For if we can correctly understand God’s intentions and heart behind it, we can then align ourselves to His ways and reap the benefits of practising it in the way that best touches God’s heart.   This will be the first in a series of studies about tithing, seeking to unlock the biblical truths associated and inform us on how it should be practiced today.  This study will examine the biblical basis for tithing.    WHAT IS A TITHE?   Leviticus 27:30–32 (NIV)  30 “ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.   The word tithe in Hebrew is maasar  and means one-tenth. Essentially God is declaring that one-tenth of all the produce of the land and of the livestock belongs to God. That is essentially what it means to be made “holy” or sacred for God.  Fundamentally, God views that a tenth of all their income and/or production belongs to God and the Israelites should return it to God.    WHERE WAS TITHING COMMANDED?   The clearest commandment on tithing was in the Law of Moses, as given in Lev 27:30-32. In many other passages in Scripture the command is reinforced, and God’s expectations expressed. In fact, when the Israelites failed to give their tithes to God, God judged them for robbing Him.   Malachi 3:8–10 (NIV) 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. The failure to tithe was not simply a failure of generosity or even just a failure of obedience.  It was all that but most importantly, it was robbing God of what rightfully belongs to Him.   Hence, the failure to tithe was not simply a failure of generosity or even just a failure of obedience.  It was all that but most importantly, it was robbing God of what rightfully belongs to Him. No wonder God declared that His judgment was open the entire nation. This underscored the importance of the principle of tithing to God.   Yet it is often argued by some that tithing was a legalistic requirement in the Laws of Moses and thus it should no longer be practiced today. However, is that argument biblical?   TITHING BEFORE THE LAW OF MOSES   In Gen 14 is recorded the story of how Abram rescued Lot from 4 kings who plundered Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abram went after the 4 kings and in an amazing military feat, defeated them all and rescued Lot and his family.  In addition, he plundered the kings. When Abram met Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest to God Most High, Abram offered to Melchizedek a tithe of the spoils of war.   Genesis 14:18–20 (NIV)  18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.   In effect, Abram was tithing to God by giving to God’s priest (see also Heb 7:4). Thus, Abram understood the principle of tithing to God in recognition that the spoils of war represented an increase of his income or possessions.   Some have argued that since Abram was tithing out of the spoils of war it cannot be used to support the view that Abraham was tithing as a lifestyle.  Further, they supported this by arguing Scripture did not ever show Abram tithing besides this point. [i]     Two major responses.  Firstly, because Scripture is silent on whether Abram tithed as a lifestyle, we cannot say either way.  It is obvious that the writer of Genesis did not seek to focus on tithing, as it had other matters of greater concern.  It only mentioned tithing to show Abram’s reverence towards God’s priest Melchizedek.  Secondly, we are not arguing that Abram necessarily was practising tithing as a faith lifestyle but that he had understood the principle of the tithe as a means of honouring God.   We also find the concept of tithing was clear to Jacob, the grandson of Abram.   Genesis 28:20–22 (NIV)  20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”   Jacob made the vow should God protect and provide for Him, then he would regard God as his deity. Accompanying that he would honour God with a tithe of all that God gives him. This showed that the concept of tithing was clear in His mind.  If he followed God, he would honour God by tithing.    We can only assume that Jacob was true to his word and kept his vow to tithe of everything that God gave him, which was a huge amount as we discover later in Genesis.  After all, Jacob had proven himself to be a man of his word through the many accounts.  Yet interestingly Scripture did not record him giving tithes back to God [ii] .  Why?  Perhaps because the writer had concerns other than tithing in Genesis.  Just as it was for the narrative on Abram. The Law of Moses codified an existing principle rather than introduce it.    The above practices demonstrates that the principle of tithing was understood and practiced long before the time of Moses.  In other words, the Law of Moses codified an existing principle rather than introduce it.    It must be qualified here that we are not stating that God demanded nor expected His followers of that era before the Law of Moses to tithe as a lifestyle.  Rather, simply that the principle of tithing was understood as a means to honour God.  However, the Law of Moses marked a shift in God’s expectation where God now demanded tithing as a lifestyle expectation of all who followed Him.  What Jacob did on his own initiative because he believed in its principle to honour God, God now expected of all His people.   TITHING DURING THE LAW OF MOSES   Since tithing was codified only in the Law of Moses, does that therefore indicate God never intended it to be an expectation for all believers today?  The key is understanding God’s intent.  There is always a reason for every regulation in the Law of Moses. Was it for health, relationships and social cohesion and function?  Was it to point towards a truth?  Was it a principle by which God wanted His followers to implement in their lives?    It is clear from the Old Testament why God demanded tithes of all His people.   Practically to support the Levitical priests and the functions of the temple as they had no other sources of income (Num 18:21-24).   To recognise and honour God as owner and provider of all things (Lev 27:30-32).  Hence to withhold tithes is to dishonour and rob God (Mal 3:8-10).   The question to be answered in New Testament times is this. Has any of these truly changed? That is, should nullify the practise of tithing?  Has the need to support God’s work and His workers that have given up on other sources of income changed?  Has God changed from being the owner and provider?  Does God no longer require honouring from His people through their giving?  Has God given another manner to honour God that replaces tithing?    TITHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT   Now that we have shown tithing was practised by God’s people in the Old Testament, the question is does it carry through to the New Testament?    Matthew 23:23 (NIV)  23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. Jesus affirmed the practise of tithing in the New Testament.    Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who religiously practised tithing without showing justice, mercy and faithfulness. Jesus corrected them by stating that they should practice both. Therefore, Jesus affirmed the practise of tithing in the New Testament.  If Jesus had wanted the practice of tithing to be stopped or modified, He could have taken this opportunity to correct the concept or practise.  This He did with marriage and divorce, ceremonial washing, sabbath and others.  But not for tithing.   Some pushed back against this by arguing that Apostle Paul’s taught that the Christians should give willingly, not out of compulsion.  Hence, tithing should not be a New Testament command.   2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.   However, this argument fails because they failed to take the context into consideration. Apostle Paul was not talking about tithing but rather about giving to help the Jerusalem churches during the time of famine (1 Cor 16:1-3). Paul was requesting for offerings, not tithes.  We do, however, accept the principles expressed by Paul in giving is universal.  That it should be out of our convictions (what we have decided in our hearts), willingness and not out of compulsion.    TITHING THROUGH THE CROSS   Some argue that after the crucifixion of Jesus ushered in New Testament grace, the legalistic practise of tithing should not be continued.  However, that represents a failure to appreciate God’s intentions of maintaining His eternal principles in both the Old and New Testaments.  In the Old Testament, principles are often introduced in the form of commands, ceremonies and more rigidly applied. In the New Testament, the eternal principles are expressed much more clearly and applied with grace.  The cross of Jesus represents the transforming connection between both Testaments where under grace, the forms, ceremonies are shed and most commands. But the principle remains and is clarified. I expounded these principles in greater depth in my blog articles “Covenant in the Bible (Part 5): How the Old connects with the New” and “Covenant in the Bible (Part 6): How the Old became New.” The cross of Jesus represents the transforming connection between both Testaments where under grace, the forms, ceremonies are shed and most commands. But the principle remains and is clarified.   The fact that tithing was practised before the codified form and commands of the Law of Moses and continued to be affirmed by Jesus in the New Testament leads us to conclude it is an eternal principle. Hence, tithing should continue to be practised, as a principle.   THE BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE OF TITHING   To understand why tithing is a biblical principle, we need to understand why God required tithing in the first place.  Let me unpack some of the key reasons.   It reminds us that God is the true Owner of all and Provider of what we have.  Psalm 50:10–11 (NIV)  10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. It reminds us that we are merely stewards.  Everything we possess, even our every breath, is a gift from God. Since God is the rightful owner, He can require anything He desires of us.  The very act of tithing helps keeps in the fore of our minds that all we have is God’s.     The very act of tithing helps keeps in the fore of our minds that all we have is God’s.     We should trust God for His provision, His blessings.  Malachi 3:10–12 (NIV)  10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. God challenges us to trust Him for abundant provisions and blessings.  Indeed, God promises to provide and bless in abundance. Tithing is therefore an act of faith in God’s faithfulness to provide. Tithing is therefore an act of faith in God’s faithfulness to provide. We tithe as an act of honouring God.  By tithing we are obedient to God’s expressed desire that His people return to Him what is His, as it has been made holy or sacred unto God.  Leviticus 27:30–32 (NIV)  30 “ ‘A tithe of everything from the land … belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock … will be holy to the Lord.   Our tithes support God’s work.  What we give unto God, God gives to His Church. This enables the Church to undertake God’s work.  For what is given will help support and release those who had set aside income to serve God’s purposes. Without such support, the ministry of the Church would suffer greatly as happened in the time of Nehemiah.  Nehemiah 13:10 (NIV)  I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. What we give unto God, God gives to His Church. This enables the Church to undertake God’s work.  CONCLUSIONS   We demonstrated that tithing is a biblical principle. It was practised by the patriarchs.  It was instructed in codified form in the Law of Moses.  Jesus affirmed its practice in the New Testament.  The Scriptures provide us key reasons of why tithing is a biblical principle and ought to be practised even today.  However, because it is a principle, we should not approach it in a legalistic fashion.  But we should regard tithing as the principle of the tenth as a benchmark to aim for and even exceed because of our generous desire to honour God and His Church. We should regard tithing as the principle of the tenth as a benchmark to aim for and even exceed because of our generous desire to honour God and His Church. Some who had railed against tithing have rejected it because they viewed it as a legalistic requirement, a product of the Law of Moses.  Yet in rejecting it, they have also inadvertently neglected the biblical principles undergirding it.  By doing so, they have also rejected a benchmark which God provided as a guide to what is a reasonable manner to honour Him as well as to stretch our trust in His provision.    In fact, much of the issues with tithing applies to the practise of sabbath rest.  In my article “Rhythms of Refreshing: Biblical Basis” I showed how sabbath should be practised today as a principle.  Besides sabbath pointing to the truth that Jesus is our ultimate rest, it has practical benefits when we practise its principles and its benchmark of regular rest to refresh.  It also provides a weekly benchmark for our gathering to worship God.   In the next study we will examine the various forms of tithes and offerings required by God and its objectives. [i]  This article was expanded in May 2025 to address this objection as well as make clearer the difference and implications of tithing as a principle in contrast to legal requirement. [ii]  See further arguments why Jacob would have fulfilled his vow in “Jacob’s Tithe: Did Jacob Keep His Vow To God?” Brian Neil Peterson, JETS (The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society), 63.2 (2020): 255–65. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Have you ever wondered why the Bible refers so much to God’s glory? What is the significance of God’s glory? What is the implication to us, the church?  In the book of Exodus, we find that a large portion of the book is devoted to the building of God’s tabernacle.  In fact, the building of the tabernacle reflects God’s intention to build His people, His Church. It gives us glimpses of what God has in mind for us, His people.   Exodus 40:33–38 (NIV)  33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.   We find in Exodus 40:33-38, at the very end of Exodus, that the glory of God came and dwelled in the tabernacle.  The word “glory” in Hebrew is kabod.  It speaks of the majestic manifestation of His presence and being.  What is the significance of this for us today?  We will unpack 4 key aspects about moving towards God’s glory.   A VESSEL PREPARED FOR GLORY   Exodus 40:33 (NIV)   Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.   Moses had been preparing the tabernacle to ensure that it was ready to every specification for God to come with His glory.  Every part of the tabernacle.  Every intricate design, every element of the tabernacle is intended for God to come in His glory.  God’s design for the tabernacle reflects God’s design for His Church.   The spiritual truth is that the tabernacle is a type of God’s church.  God’s design for the tabernacle reflects God’s design for His Church. It has implications for every believer because all of us are part of God’s church.  The tabernacle reveals the truth that…   God wants to prepare us for His glory   The tabernacle was God’s design. Every glorious detail was God specified.  The design, dimensions, materials, colours, function, etc.  Everything prescribed to receive His glory.   In the same way, from the very beginning God designed us to be vessels of His glory, that we should reflect and contain His glory.  As Scriptures state in Genesis 1:26 (NIV)  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, …”  God designed us to be vessels of glory, but we became vessels of gory.   Mankind was meant to multiply forth and fill the whole earth with God’s glory.  But Adam and Eve mucked up and we have been filling it with sin ever since.  Man became filled with violence, strife, hatred, murder.  God designed us to be vessels of glory, but we became vessels of gory. Through Jesus, God is redeeming us back to God’s original objective.  To be vessels of His glory!    But God was not thwarted, as He had His plan of redemption ready.  Jesus is the centre of the master plan.  Through Jesus, God is redeeming us back to God’s original objective.  To be vessels of His glory!  God desires every believer and every church in the Body of Christ to be prepared for His glory to dwell within fully.  2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV)  … For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”   In every genuine believer, the spirit of God is already with you.  But His glory?  That is another matter. For God’s glory will not dwell anywhere. We have to be prepared by God for God.   2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever–increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.   God is transforming us progressively.  God’s glory will be revealed in us more and more the further we are purified.  That is God’s desire, his heartbeat. But we must also understand this.   We have to prepare ourselves for His glory.   The tabernacle was built by human hands according to divine instructions. God wanted man to participate in the making of the tabernacle. In the same way, we are responsible also to prepare ourselves.  Not according to human instructions but divine. We are participants in preparing the vessels of glory. God wants to prepare us for glory. But we have to cooperate with God.    God wants to prepare us for glory. But we have to cooperate with God.  We are to work hand in hand with God.  We have our part in preparing for God’s glory.  2 Timothy 2:20 - 21 (NIV)  20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.  21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.   We should clear out things from our lives that are ignoble.  Are we filling our lives with things that are not eternal?  Are we filling our lives with everything else but the glory of God!  Facebook, TikTok, Fortnite, CNN, Netflix?  All but the glory of God!  What do we need to do?   Connect to God for glory   We need to walk in right relationship with God. Communicating with, committing to and cooperating with God for Him to purify us. We must be connected to God.  We need to walk in right relationship with God. Communicating with, committing to and cooperating with God for Him to purify us.  Hence, we should focus on our relationship with God and the disciplines we will need such as devotions and prayer. Besides connecting, we must avail ourselves to God to work on us. So that He may:   Purify and mature us for glory    God is working on us.  To bring us to purity and maturity, that we may be more Christlike.  Like a master craftsman, God is lovingly, skilfully, patiently, deftly shaping us.  Firmly, surely, sometimes seemingly rough yet always carefully chipping away at us, carving, honing, sanding to shape His glory in us.   2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  God’s glory will be in worked in us more when we realise there has to be less of ourselves.    When God is finished it will be a great work of art.   But we must cooperate with Him.  Ultimately, God’s glory will be in worked in us more when we realise there has to be less of ourselves.  Less of our selfish, self-centred, sinful self.  But more of God holy character in our lives. John 3:30 (KJV)  He must increase, but I must decrease.    A RESIDENCE FILLED WITH GLORY   Exodus 40:34–35 (NIV) 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.   Once the entire tabernacle was completed precisely to God’s specifications, God came and filled the tabernacle with His presence.  So intense was God’s glory that even Moses, who had a glimpse of God’s glory before, could not enter in.  Notice it refers to the cloud.  It is the glory cloud, a manifestation of the presence of God. In Scriptures we often find God’s glory connected with the cloud.   While the cloud reveals God’s glorious presence, it functions to veil God’s glorious presence.  Because God’s glory is full of pure light. So pure and holy, no man can look at it.  So, the cloud serves to shroud this glorious light.  Even with this cloud, man can feel the tangible presence of God.  At times, God’s shrouded presence is already so great that people will collapse.  Imagine when the cloud lifts to reveal God’s full glory.  God wants to fill His people, His Church with His tangible glory continually and fully.    God wants to fill His people, His Church with His tangible glory continually and fully.  But we are not fully ready.  Not yet!  We have to be prepared first, as mentioned earlier.  Not just individual believers, but the church as a whole.  The church has to be purified and matured in Christ.  Ephesians 2:21 (NIV)  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.    So how do we see God’s glory manifest in our church? We have to grow together in God, as a community.  We need to commit to one another, to body life.  To being connected together, helping one another to grow in God.  Note that the tabernacle and all the articles inside the Tent of Meeting were covered in gold, signifying purity.  Only when all the articles were ready did God come!   The Devil has deceived many believers to be unchurched believers, to be uncommitted believers.  They float from one church to another.  They are not committed to any local church.  They are not connected in a life group.  Not doing life together, God’s way.  Such unconnected, uncommitted believers will struggle to grow towards glory.  They become easy picking for the Devil.    God’s design for every believer is to be fully connected to a good local church.  Where they can grow through the fellowship, support, teaching, even through the friction together.  Our vision should be to see a glorious church develop.  A church where we help one another in our journey together with God towards glory.  A church full of people from all walks of life, all cultures and nations.  A church full of people who are imperfect yet committed to grow together, despite our failings and weaknesses.  Growing together in purity and into Christ-likeness.  Together we will be filled with God’s glory!  And not just filled with God’s glory occasionally, but a people reflecting God’s glory and carrying it even into the marketplace!   A PEOPLE LED BY GLORY   Exodus 40:36–37 (NIV)  36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. God's Presence comes that He might lead us into His purposes.   The glory of God did not just dwell amongst them but led them.  The Israelites were obedient to the glory of God that led them from place to place.  Wherever the cloud of fire and smoke, the cloud of glory went – the people obeyed and went.  They were obedient to God’s leadership.  In other words, the glory of God, the presence of God is not just for us to enjoy or to get excited about. God's Presence comes that He might lead us into His purposes.   The important principle is to seek God, not the manifestation.  Don’t seek the gift and miss the Giver. If we truly seek God, then we will be obedient unto God.  The key is to understand the principle of obedience to God’s leadership.  The people of God, the Church of Jesus Christ – must be obedient to God.  God delights in such obedience, as expressed in 1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV)  “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.   How can we fully obey unless we understand God’s purposes?  That is why we encourage everyone to study God’s Word.  Put time aside, enrol in your church study classes.  In Hope Church our desire is to help every believer be instructed in the things of God and equip unto every good work.  That way we can obey God effectively.  When God says run, we can run.  When God says organise, we can organise well.  When God says teach, we can teach faithfully.  When God says evangelise, we can evangelise effectively, When God says shepherd, we can shepherd others lovingly.  When God says prophesy, we can prophesy reliably.    A SHINING LIGHT OF GLORY   Exodus 40:38 (NIV)  So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. When the glory of God is in a church, it will cause the church to become influential because of its impact.  The column of God’s glory that revealed itself in smoke in the day and light at night was like a focus point that was visible to all.  Anyone who approached the Israelite camp would immediately see the pillar of cloud.  When the glory of God is in a church, it will cause the church to become influential because of its impact.    In 1969, Jack Hayford became the pastor of a tiny church of 18 people.  During the early days of the church, it grew to a small congregation of 100.  One day in 1971 as he was leaving the church sanctuary, he experienced the glory of God.  It was as if a light glorious mist hung in the atmosphere, and it was just for a moment. Things began to happen to the church and people just started coming!  The “Church On The Way” grew to over 10,000 people over the decades of his ministry.   When God’s glory fills the church and as the church obediently moves in God’s purposes, there will be healing in lives, there will be nourishment for the soul, there will be power to cast out demons, power to heal the sick. There will be righteousness and purity.  There will be godliness.  Micah 4:1-2 (NIV)  1 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.   Imagine when the church’s influence is such that even the people of the world will stream to it.  In search of answers, solutions, the peace, the joy, the grace and power of God.  I believe that God desires His churches to be amongst those influential in the Kingdom and in the world.  When the church does the will of God effectively, it gives glory to God.   John 15:8 (NIV)  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.   God’s glory will shine throughout the land. Shall we move towards glory by God’s grace?   CONCLUSION   God intends for us to be vessel of His glory. To be filled with His glory and be led by Him. To be shining with His glory. Do you want the more of the glory of God?  Do you want to move towards the glory of God?  Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Years ago, someone once asked the late Dr. Yonggi Cho, then pastor of the largest church in the world of almost 800,000.  “What is the key to your great success?” His reply was very simple “I pray and I obey”   The most fitting response to undeserved blessing is unreserved obedience!  Your obedience to God today determines what you’ll be for God tomorrow   A few centuries before Christ a man named Alexander the Great conquered almost all of the known world using military strength, cleverness and shrewd of diplomacy. The story is told that Alexander and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly fortified walled city. Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice and demanded to see the king. He insisted that the king surrender the city and its inhabitants to Alexander and his little band of fighting men.   The king laughed, "Why should I surrender to you? You can’t do us any harm!" But Alexander offered to give the king a demonstration. He ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff.   The townspeople gathered on the wall and watched in shocked silence as, one by one, Alexander’s soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths! After 10 soldiers died, Alexander ordered the rest of the men to return to his side. The townspeople and the king immediately surrendered to Alexander the Great. They realized that if a few men were actually willing to commit suicide at the command of this dynamic leader, then nothing could stop his eventual victory.   Are you willing to be as obedient to the ruler of the universe, Jesus Christ, as those soldiers were to Alexander? Are you as dedicated and committed? Think how much power Christ could have in our area with just a portion of such commitment. [i] God always works for our benefit when we are in obedience to him.    Remember that  God always works for our benefit when we are in obedience to him.    Romans 8:28 (NIV) ...we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.      Imagine if the church had such a “Yes Sir!” attitude. Imagine if God’s church had such obedience to God!  In Exodus 39-40  we will look at some key aspects of obeying God completely.   HEARING COMPLETELY WHAT GOD HAS COMMANDED   Exodus 39:42 (NIV) The Israelites had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses.   It is important to see the sense of the verse.  They had completed the Tabernacle just “as God commanded Moses.” In crafting all the various components of the Tabernacle, it was critical that Moses heard completely what God had instructed and that the workmen also likewise heard completely what Moses had instructed them.  In fact, the phrase “as the Lord commanded” appears 20 times in this passage.   To obey God we need to hear what God is saying clearly and completely. If we do not hear, we cannot respond to God.  If we do not hear properly, we will not be able to respond to God properly.  The problem is this. Too many people are presumptuously doing what they think God wants done, but not actually hearing God first, nor completely.   Samuel the prophet urged King Saul to take careful note of what God was about to instruct him in 1 Samuel 15:1 (ESV) And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD.”  King Saul was to listen God’s instructions carefully. But he presumptuously thought he could change what God instructed. God’s instructions are clear and precise.  Whenever we get confused, we just need to go back to what was actually said.  Many times, when things become unclear, I can get clarity by simply getting back to what God had clearly said.  What did God actually say as opposed to what I thought God said?  When we distort hearing from God, it leads to distorted obedience and that is dis-obedience! Sometimes we may have heard from God, but we distort what God actually said to what we want to hear Him say. For example, God may say to us “Buy a cheap car!” but we only heard “buy a car”.  This could lead to us spending more than we ought to. When we distort hearing from God, it leads to distorted obedience and that is dis-obedience!   We should have a high level of respect for what God has said in His Word. Not adding our own favourite emphasis, nor remove from it what we want to de-emphasise.  There was once an over-sized boy who after Sunday school, ate even more than usual. When asked, he responded that he wanted to learn to pray more.  For the Sunday school teacher taught that they needed to feast and pray.   Revelation 22:18 - 19 (NIV) 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.  19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.   Let us be people who are passionate about understanding God’s word, His instructions to us.  So that we can obey Him completely!  When we obey, we will experience God’s blessings.  Jesus said in Luke 11:28 (NIV) He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”   DETAILED OBEDIENCE TO WHAT GOD HAS SAID   Exodus 39:43 (NIV)  Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them.   Moses found that the workmen were detailed in carrying out exactly what God had commanded Moses.  In chapters 36 to 39, we find that the craftsmen built the tabernacle exactly as specified by Moses in chapters 25 to 30. Many tiny details were specifically commanded by God in making the various furniture articles.  The dimensions, the form, the ornaments, the materials, the weights, the liturgical steps, etc. The people did not try to modify the instructions or cut corners.  We need to simply obey God’s Word, even in details that may seem unimportant to us.    We need to simply obey God’s Word, even in details that may seem unimportant to us.  After all, the Scriptures tell us in Isaiah 55:8 that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are different from ours – He knows best. Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.   There was once a young woman who went to a petrol station to refuel her car.  Then unexpectedly she sensed God telling her to stand on her hands.  She hesitated but finally decided to do so. She did a quick handstand and feeling rather embarrassed, decided to quickly get into her car and drive off.  Suddenly another woman ran out of the petrol station calling out to her. Surprised she listened to what this woman had to say.  This woman explained that she was going through a difficult time and was seeking if God was real.  She had prayed a simple pray for something unusual to happen to prove that God existed.  She prayed that someone would do a handstand in front of her. And lo and behold she saw this young woman do a handstand.        King Saul was someone who obeyed God only to a point. Saul’s obedience was only partial.  In 1 Samuel 15:1-3, the prophet Samuel had instructed Saul to destroy everything from the Amalekites.  But King Saul figured it was unreasonable to destroy the fine livestock.  He probably thought that was just an oversight on God’s part. So he would help God, by re-interpreting the instructions to something more reasonable!  Saul assumed that God wouldn’t mind if he spared Agag, the king, as a trophy of his great victory. He assumed wrong. God had said to “utterly destroy” everything.   Deliberate partial obedience is actually complete disobedience.   It’s easy at this point to try to vindicate Saul by thinking, “Well, he almost did everything God said to do.” But the truth of the matter is, deliberate partial obedience is actually complete disobedience . To miss by a little can mean to miss by a lot.  Imagine if the scientists that launch space probes to the moon were to miscalculate the trajectory by fraction of a degree.  This slight error will lead to the probe missing the moon by thousands of kilometres! When we choose not to be detailed in our obedience to God, our partial obedience is not obedience, but disobedience.    Sometimes going further than what God has said can also lead to disobedience!  Dr Yonggi Cho shared about a massive church building project that God laid upon his heart.  He was to build a large multi-storey church auditorium.  But in the midst of the construction project the nation faced a large economic downturn and the church building project became mired in debt. He almost committed suicide over it due to the enormous stress and shame. He eventually came to the realisation that he had added an additional building to the project which God did not ask him to build.  That was what unravelled the project. To get the details right we need to be Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered.   To get the details right we need to be Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered.  Sometimes, God does not spell out all the details but when we are Spirit-led and empowered, we will get the details right.  With the Spirit we better discern the details that God seeks.  Exodus 31:2 - 3 (NIV) 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,  3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—    In the Scriptures above, God spelt out many details for the tabernacle but not all.  Yet He empowered the craftsman to interpret God’s intention with creativity and to get it right. Notice the key is the Spirit of God upon the lead craftsmen.  The detail we go to shows our attitude.  Is your attitude: “Near enough is good enough” when serving God?  Or is it: “Let’s get it right?”    TIMELY OBEDIENCE   Exodus 40:17 (NIV)  So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.   There was a specific timing that God was aiming for the entire tabernacle to be set up.  Approximately 12 months from their first Passover in Egypt. They received instructions from Moses about 6 months into the year. The workmen acted immediately and completed everything in about 6 months.  Their obedience was timely. We ought to learn to carry out what God has commanded when He commands.   Why?  Because delayed obedience is disobedience! King Saul was unable to wait for God. He was a man who was either disobeying God, or was too eager and ended up rushing ahead of God.   1 Samuel 13:8 - 14 (NIV) 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.  9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.  10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. 11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel.  Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash,  12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”  He did what was forbidden to do. 13 “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.  14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”   It is like surfing a wave.  Too far ahead and you lose momentum, and the wave will overtake you or worse will crash down on you.  Too far behind and you either fall off the back or are crushed in the curl!   Obedience too early or too late can be disobedience.  We need to obey God in God’s time!   Are you seeking for God’s timing? For example, in boy-girl relationships. Even if she is the one, is the timing right?   Watchman Nee was a preacher and writer greatly used of God in China. As a young man, he was attracted to a Christian girl, Charity Chang.  But he quickly discovered that she did not share his passion for God.  She was more concerned about worldly matters.  God challenged him one day as he read Psalms 73:25, “There is none on earth that I desire beside thee.”  God spoke in his heart, “You have a consuming desire upon earth.  You should give up your attachment for Miss Chang. What qualification has she to be a preacher’s wife?” He tried to bargain with God.  Finally, he gave in and threw himself into the ministry.  He made a God-centred decision.   This was not the end of the story.  Years later, God worked a radical change in Charity’s life, and she became a devoted follower of Christ.  God caused both to cross paths again and they became man and wife!   PRIORITISED OBEDIENCE   In obeying God’s instructions in Exodus 40:18-33, they prioritised what had to be done and focussed on completing it step by step.  It was carefully planned.  We can see the sequence.  First the bases, then the frames, then the crossbars, then the poles, etc.  There was priority and focus on what they carried out.   If we are to finish the work that Christ has given us we need to see what is most important clearly, and not get distracted by what is just permissible or secondary!  1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)  “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.    Paul loved the Roman Christians.  In fact, he himself was a Roman Jewish Citizen.  He obviously wanted to visit the Romans but focussed on what was his priority. To finish preaching the Gospel where it had not been preached yet.  So Paul states that He will visit them but only as he is on his way to Spain! Romans 15:20 - 24 (NIV) 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.  22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you,  24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through ...    There are many things I would love to do in my life.  But I have to be careful to prioritize in obeying God’s call upon my life.  For I desire to remain obedient to God in every way.   CONCLUSIONS   How is your attitude to obeying God? The most fitting response to undeserved blessing is unreserved obedience! Jesus made a very important observation in John 14:15 (NIV) “If you love me, you will obey what I command.    In other words, love produces obedience, or obedience to Christ’s command is the result of genuine love. It is possible to obey Jesus words and not love Him, but it is impossible to love Him and not obey Him.  Let us obey God completely because we love Him. 1.  James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 102-103.

Have you ever been in the situation which is totally bleak?  You are facing an unexpected economic crisis and you could lose your house.  Or the doctor just gave you a terminal cancer diagnosis.  Or certain people have let you down truly badly.  Or perhaps you have mucked up bad? It is the darkest hour for you.   In Exodus 32, while Moses was away on a spiritual pilgrimage for just 40 days, the people backslid horribly. It was not that they got lazy in their spiritual walk.  They built a golden calf, an idol and worshipped it.  A total abomination to God.  And worse, Moses’ own brother Aaron was the one who built it!  This was the darkest hour for Moses and the people of Israel.  That would be like my wife Lai Ling and I went on a sabbatical for 40 days to seek God only to come back and to our horror, discover that this is no longer Hope Church but Hare Krishna Church.    Now things got worse, God was so upset with their abomination that He declares He will no longer go with them to the Promised Land.  For He might end up wiping them out because of their continual resistance. He will only send an angel to represent Him.  They had mucked up so bad, they have no place to hide their faces! And God concurs they have mucked up so bad, that He does not want to see their faces at all!    Everything seemed lost!  So what was left?  But the amazing thing is this.  In the midst of the darkest hour, Moses came to his most incredible experience of God!  Perhaps you might be in your darkest hour. Or you might encounter that one day. Yet like Moses, your darkest hour can turn into the brightest day!  How can this be so?  If we learn some lessons from this passage.   TURN FROM IDOLATRY TO GOD   Exodus 33:7–11 (NIV) 7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.   In those days, before they built the Tabernacle of Moses as we learnt about in chapters 25 to 30, there was a temporary tent that Moses had set up outside the Israelite camp area. It was known as the Tent of Meeting because there Moses met with God.  The cloud and pillar of smoke would move there when God met with Moses. When the phrase “face to face” is used, it is intended to mean have a one-to-one or personal meeting rather than a literal face-to-face.   This passage was included to explain how Moses would often meet with God.  This provided the context of the current meeting that Moses had with God.  What is important for us to note is that after God declared He was fed up with them and would not go with them any longer, Moses did not just throw a tantrum and walked away.  Or resigned himself to accept the decision.  Or got all bitter and discouraged. So what did he do?   Turn back to God   What Moses did was turn to God and sought to meet with God.  That was the key.  The Israelites had fallen into idolatry, and it was necessary to turn back to God. Moses took the initiative in v12 “Moses said to the Lord...”.  Moses recognise that the people had turned away from God and he had to turn to God first, to help the rest turn back to God.  Zechariah 1:3 (NIV) Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.    What is the lesson for us?  Perhaps we ended up in our darkest hour because we have somehow turned away from God.  Perhaps we slipped just that little away from God and failed to listen to Him.  Perhaps we disobeyed God!  Perhaps something else became an idol in our hearts – our money, our career, our girlfriend/boyfriend, our needs, etc.  Perhaps we thought we could just have a little more of something but now we cannot let go.  It is like the traditional way of catching monkeys.  A small hole is cut in a coconut big enough for the monkey to put its hand in.  Then a bright shiny object is put inside and the coconut tied to a tree.  A curious monkey will put its hand inside to grab the shiny object.  Because its hand has formed a fist, it cannot pull out its hand. So the monkey is caught by its greed.  The only way to escape is to let go, but the monkey simply cannot conceive of doing so.  So too are we often caught by our idolatry.   Let go of the idolatry.  The key is to turn back to God.   Turn not to human solutions   Moses did not just convene a meeting and say, “Fellas, as you know, God will no longer be with us.  But we can sort this out.  Let’s do some SWOT analysis of our situation and make some smart, creative strategic decisions to get us out of the mess.  Maybe we can rely on the Americans military.  Smart bombs, stealth fighters, high-tech warfare.  We will blitz our enemies!”   One of the greatest mistakes we could ever do is to turn to a human solution in our darkest hour.  Isaiah 31:1 (NIV) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.   What we need is God Himself to intervene!  Now there is nothing wrong in committee meetings, in SWOT analysis, etc.  There is a time and place for such meetings and planning.  But first, we need God!  Sometimes the hardest thing to do when we face our darkest hour is to meet God.  Some just want to drink their problems away.  Some just want to run away.  Some just want to lie in bed.  Some just want to blame somebody.  Some will desperately grasp at straws.   But the key is to turn to God.  When David and his men were in a place called Ziklag, they came to their darkest hour.  The Amalekites had raided Ziklag in 1 Samuel 30:2 - 6 (NIV) 2 and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. 3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.  4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep...   6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.   The key that turned the whole situation around was that David determined to meet with God at that crucial time.  And because David met with God, he found strength in God.  As a result, he was able to motivate his men to pursue after the Amalekites and regain all that they lost plus more! In our darkest hour, we should not sink into despair but sink into God’s hands.   In our darkest hour, we should not sink into despair but sink into God’s hands instead!  There we will find grace.  There we will find the answer!  Jeremiah 15:19 (NIV) Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me...”   TURN FROM FAILURE TO FAVOUR   Exodus 33:12–13 (NIV) 12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”   In chapter 32 the Israelites failed God.  But in chapter 33, Moses resolved not to remain in failure.  He did something about it. Moses moved from failure to favour before God. Moses pleaded with God to show him how to remain in God’s favour. This revealed his determination to continue to find favour before God. Moses understood that unless he continually walked in God’s favour, the whole exodus could end up in vain. So he pleaded with God.  So masterful was His pleading that God immediately agreed to continue to go with them. No matter what has happened, we must get back into God’s favour.   Why?  God was obviously very pleased with Moses heart to remain in God’s favour, no matter what. No matter what has happened, we must get back into God’s favour. Perhaps we have mucked up and fallen out of God’s favour. Then repent, turn around, confess and seek to find God’s favour again.  God will receive us back!  1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.    God has been good to Hope Church over the last 15 years, we have continually seen the church grow and seen God’s blessings.  I believe a critical reason is because we have determined to remain in God’s favour.  Psalms 5:12 (NIV) For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.   This involves keeping to God’s principles, to being faithful to the things God has called you to.  To maintaining integrity in all that you do.  So do not compromise in all that you do. If there is sin or compromise, you must deal with it.  With love, grace and mercy – but you must deal with it. It is far better to please God than to please men.    It is far better to please God than to please men.  I have had to make a number of very tough decisions over the years.  Decisions that have not always made me friends.  But I stuck with it because it is more important to find favour before God than before men.    TURN OBSTACLE INTO OPPORTUNITY   At that time, Moses had a huge obstacle.  God Himself was reluctant to continue to be with them.  Otherwise, He might destroy them all.  If you are familiar with the rest of Biblical history, God did destroy many of them.  But that is another story and another lesson.  With God, the darkest hour can turn into brightest day.    Sometimes when we hit our darkest hour, we may be discouraged and feel like giving up.  To throw in the towel. Because the obstacle looks too huge! But with God, the darkest hour can turn into brightest day.  Moses discovered this.  What are some ways that obstacles can turn into opportunities?   Opportunity to learn what really matters   Exodus 33:14–17 (NIV) 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”  17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”   Sometimes we may not understand what the most crucial things are or may forget about it until the darkest hour.  The people of Israel had taken the Presence of God for granted and it was only upon God’s threat to withdraw His presence that it became obvious they needed God’s Presence.  That is why Moses pleaded for God’s Presence to be with them.  Without God’s Presence, Moses knew that the nation would fail in its destiny. It was not worth continuing. But with God, victory is certain. It is God with us that makes all the difference. Men may fail but God is faithful.   Moses also realises that it is God’s Presence that distinguishes the Israelites as God’s people.  For it is God with us that makes all the difference.  When God is with us, things will turn out well in the end.  It gives us tremendous security to know God is with us.  Men may fail but God is faithful.   In the end, it is not so much the leader, but whether God is with us!   Loren Cunningham and the YWAM leadership were convinced that God wanted them to purchase a ship to use as a means of outreach into the islands. God’s providence seemed to be leading their plans. Loren saw the 450-foot ship the Maori in 1973 and made a deposit for it for $72,000 provided by a English businessman.  Cunningham recalled, “Every day, we saw some new release for the ship—either a volunteer or money or a special offer… Everything seemed to be falling into place, and the fulfillment of the vision of the ship was happening fast”.    Progressively, the amount of time, energy and focus required to prepare the ship increased.  Then one night Cunningham had a dream.  In the dream the ship was finally ready at the dock. There was much celebrations and the ship sailed off.  Yet as he looked upon the dock, he noticed a sole man left behind on the dock. It was Jesus.  It dawned upon him that YWAM had focussed so much upon the gift, they had forgotten the Giver. But it was too late.  Mysteriously, the flow of money, gifts and volunteers that had been streaming into the project mysteriously stopped, and within a matter of weeks the plans for purchasing the Maori were sunk. Cunningham called the British donor to inform him that their venture had failed and why it did.  The godly businessman told him that the most important think is that YWAM had learnt the lesson. If we learn the lessons well, we will come out wiser, stronger, and more able to fulfil God’s destiny.    When we face our darkest hour, do not be dismayed.  But ask ourselves what important lesson does God want us to learn?  If we learn the lessons well, we will come out wiser, stronger, and more able to fulfil God’s destiny.  As I observed great man and women used of God, they learned their lessons even from the darkest hours and came out stronger.  So don’t be afraid of those dark hours but learn from it. Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.    Opportunities to encounter God   Exodus 33:18–23 (NIV) 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” The darkest hour can become a glorious opportunity for God’s intervention!    Moses had the audacity to ask to see God’s glory!  Moses turned the darkest hour into great opportunity!  And God promised Moses that he will encounter God’s glory like never before.  The darkest hour turned into the brightest moment because Moses responded with humility and purity of heart.  The darkest hour can become a glorious opportunity for God’s intervention!  Not all is lost, if we will have faith.   CONCLUSIONS   We may have mucked up bad before God.  Yet will you determine to turn back to God?  To find favour before God rather than men?  To learn the lessons that God intended you to learn?  Then you will return to God’s favour eventually. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

A young man wrote to the love of his life.    “My dearest darling, I will do anything for your love.  I will scale the highest mountains, plunge into the darkest abyss, cross the harshest deserts, brave the fiercest storms.  Nothing will keep me from you.  Forever yours.    PS – I long to see you for our date tomorrow evening.  But if it rains, I will have to cancel as I do not wish to catch a cold.”   What beautiful words.  But what shallow convictions.  Have you ever wondered why there are some people with such shallow convictions and yet at the same time others with such deep convictions?  Perhaps you may have wished to be a person of conviction.  In fact, the Scriptures encourage us to be people of conviction.  And when we examine history, we find that those who have made impact upon this world are invariably people of conviction.  Conviction is the differentiating factor between people who get fired up and make a difference, in contrast to people who get hyped up and make no difference.   Why is this important for Christ-followers?  Because we do not want to be fired up for just a moment but have no lasting power.  Further, how much we can genuinely fire up will depend upon our convictions.  Conviction is the differentiating factor between people who get fired up and make a difference, in contrast to people who get hyped up and make no difference.   Let me unpack the value of having deep convictions and how we may develop such convictions.  From 2 Timothy 1:11-12 we discover some of these principles.   2 Timothy 1:11–12 (NIV) 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.   CONVICTIONS ANCHORED ON THE DIVINE CALLER   Paul’s deep convictions were not primarily reliant on some system of beliefs that he subscribed to.  It did not develop because of he was faithful to some church institution that ordained him.  This is not to say that the above do not contribute towards our convictions.  But there is something greater. Paul’s convictions was anchored upon the caller, God Himself.  Why?   Due to personal relationship “...I know whom I have believed...”.   The word “know” in the Greek is oida which carries the idea of knowing with certainty. Paul’s convictions came out of a personal and intimate relationship with God who had called him.  This begun when He had encountered Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6).    He had continued to experience God’s grace again and again in his life and ministry.  He had seen the miraculous power of God at work numerous times. He had seen how God healed, protected, strengthened, and guided him through the most challenging times even.  Through all these, it had only served to deepen his convictions in Jesus the Christ.  His faith was refined and his connection with Christ strengthened.  As apostle Peter explained in 1 Peter 1:6 - 7 (NIV) 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  The deepest convictions we could ever develop in our journey of faith is built upon our relationship with God Himself.    Paul’s convictions were anchored upon the God he knew and knew well because of what he has gone through with God.  Many who served in the army experience and understand how their tight bond developed as they face life threatening situations together.  The deepest convictions we could ever develop in our journey of faith is built upon our relationship with God Himself.  Often, we trust the people we know well, so will we trust the God we know well.  Often, we trust the people who have proven themselves to us, so will we trust the God who has proven Himself to us in our experience.   Hudson Taylor was the founder of China Inland Missions who made incredible inroads in reaching the Chinese and inspired thousands of other missionaries.  Yet before he commenced on his missions, he resolved that he had to learn to develop a high level of trust in God and His provision.  He resolved that he was not going to depend on anyone else for provisions except God. That he was not going to remind his forgetful employer to pay him his salary but entrust it to God.    At one time his employer had forgotten to provide his pay for an extended time.  Hudson despite his best efforts at frugality was down to his last shilling. Then in his medical rounds, he met a poor starving family.  He felt the Holy Spirit prompt him to give his last shilling to them. He struggled because he knew that he had no more money to pay for his lodging and food. Yet in that moment, he decided he would obey God’s prompting.  As he gave away his precious last shilling, he felt God’s peace wash over him.  He went home glad but had to forego any food that evening.  The next day, his employer came to him apologetically and gave him all his backpay.  Hudson developed deep convictions in that season in trusting God. A key to growing deeper in our convictions is to throw ourselves into the hands of the living God.    A key to growing deeper in our convictions is to determine to grow in our relationship with God.  A key to growing deeper in our convictions is to throw ourselves into the hands of the living God.    In 1990, my own faith journey had reached a point where I realised the only way for me to grow further was to learn to hear God’s voice, obey and trust Him. Shortly after, I was invited to a meeting where they discussed planting a new church. At that time, I had taken too long to complete my Engineering PhD.  My scholarship had basically run out.  I had just informed an elder in the church that I had to step back from my leadership role in the student ministry so that I could finish my PhD.  Yet during the meeting the Holy Spirit spoke clearly into my heart, “Join”. I knew that to be part of a pioneering church venture would involve considerable commitment.  Time and energy I did not have if I was going to quickly complete the rest of my PhD.  But I resolved to obey God and trust Him.  I threw myself into the hands of God for my PhD.   I chose to give up a part-time job which was supplementing my income because of the time commitments involved. But God came through. I was awarded a small research grant to undertake what I had already planned to do in my PhD.  The grant amount was better than my scholarship or even the income I would have earned in the part-time job.  In effect, God had provided for me, and I had to do next to nothing. It grew my convictions that I could trust God to provide.  The church planting experience also grew me in many other areas of faith, maturity and leadership. None of that would have happened unless I threw myself into God’s hands.   Will you choose to know God more?  Choose to rely on God more?   Due to God’s capability “...and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”   Paul testified that God is dunamos or powerful enough to guard what Paul has entrusted to God.  The Greek word for “guard” was a military term used for a soldier on watch duty.  Paul’s convictions were based not only upon his personal knowledge of God’s trustworthiness.  It was based also upon God’s capability, God’s power to do what He promised. Romans 8:35 - 39 (NIV) 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ...   38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul’s convictions was based also upon God’s capability, God’s power to do what He promised.   As far as Paul was concerned, God is totally capable of delivering on His promises.  It was not enough that Paul had a personal relationship with God, God also had to be capable to deliver on His promises. That is why Paul could entrust his soul unto God fully. Because God is fully capable to take care of his soul.    CONVICTIONS UNDERGIRDING THE CALL   Why do you think Paul had strong convictions about his call to be a herald, an apostle and a teacher (v11)? Paul was very clear about the fact that he had been called by God to his life task.  It probably helped that he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, who commissioned him to bring the Gospel.   Prior to that encounter he was the chief persecutor of the infant church. Acts 9:1 - 2 (NIV) 1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.    Yet when he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, it totally turned him around.  And God declared to Ananias in Acts 9:15 (NIV) …Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.    There have been many others who also had dramatic encounters with God, yet not all have developed convictions to serve God.  Why?  The parable of the sower in Matthew 13 gives us some insights.   Spiritual understanding   Matthew 13:18 - 19 (NIV) 18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.    In v19, the seed that falls on the road never got to the earth.  The evil one snatches it away.  Why?  There was no understanding.  Ever sat in a lecture and you didn't understand what the lecturer was saying?  Usually you would also forget the details of what he taught and probably even the topic.   Ever sat through a sermon and it was just over your head?  Where you forget the details and even the sermon topic.  The problem is compounded by our enemy Satan who tries to snatch away that Word from us as well.  Bill Hybels once preached a sermon that he felt was one of his best.  He was excited to hear what his congregation thought about it. That Sunday afternoon he attended life group.  Nobody brought it up and he thought they conspired to pull his leg.  Finally, he could stand it any longer, and asked his friends what they thought. No one could remember much about what he preached that morning.   This is a common problem.  I have met many Christians who have attended church for years - and they say to me, “I have a very poor understanding of the Bible”.  Is it because their church doesn't teach them adequately?  Or is it because they did not have spiritual understanding and as a result lost most of what they heard?  Amazing thing is I then meet other Christians from the same church, sat through the same sermons and they have a great understanding of the Bible.    Some tips on how we can avoid the Devil stealing God's Word from us. ·      Pray for spiritual understanding. ·      Value God's Word.  Unless we value it, we will never make the effort necessary to retain it. ·      Soften our hearts, be humble to learn.  ·      Be obedient to God's Word, submit to it.  Don't fight against it.  But apply it in our lives. Application helps make it tangible in our own lives.   Heart change   Matthew 13:20-21 (NIV) 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.    The seed in rocky ground was not able to penetrate into the soil sufficiently.  Its roots were too shallow.  The seed that is in good soil, its roots penetrate deep into the soil.  Its roots rearrange the structure and fabric of the soil.  There is change, deep into the soil. For deep convictions to develop, there must be change in the heart that goes deeper than simply spiritual understanding.    In the same way, for deep convictions to develop, there must be change in the heart that goes deeper than simply spiritual understanding.  When there is no change in our heart, it merely means our minds or our emotions were engaged.  There is no real change in our lives.  Therefore, we must apply what we believe to bring change in our lives!   Wholeheartedness.   Matthew 13:22 - 23 (NIV) 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.  23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”   Convictions can only properly develop if we are whole-hearted.  When we are half-hearted, we waver and convictions cannot firm up.  The seed amongst the thorns allowed itself to be distracted, divided amongst competing interests.  As a result, it could not develop fully. Convictions can only properly develop if we are whole-hearted.  When we are half-hearted, we waver and convictions cannot firm up.  Kingdom of God or kingdom of the world?   In the highest levels of any sports, the athlete must be whole-hearted otherwise they will not invest the time, energy or sacrifice needed to reach the very top.  It is this conviction that they have got what it takes, that helps them invest what it takes.  God desires a whole-hearted person.  Psalms 86:11 (NIV) Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.   E. Stanley Jones states it graphically, "If you don't make up your mind, then your unmade mind will unmake you.  Here is the place where there must be no dallying.  For any dallying will be the Trojan  horse that will get on the inside and open the gates to the enemy.  God can do anything for the man who has made up his mind; he can do little or nothing for the double‑minded."[i]      Let’s be whole-hearted in the things of God!   CONVICTIONS GREATER THAN COST Even as Paul wrote the letter, he was in prison because of the Gospel he was preaching.  And it is because of his convictions to preach the Gospel despite the persecution, that landed him there. The depth of our convictions will be tested when we face trials.  The depth of our convictions will be shown by the cost we are willing to pay to carry out our convictions. The depth of our convictions will be shown by the cost we are willing to pay to carry out our convictions.   A hen and a pig were discussing how they may provide for their kind farmer.  The hen said, “I know!  I can give some eggs, and you can give some pork!”  The pig thought for a moment and replied, “That is easy for you to say.  For you it is convenient.  For me it is conviction.”    What shall it be for us?  Living our lives for convenience?  Or out of conviction?   CONCLUSIONS   Let us be a people of biblical conviction.  Such convictions will be a firm foundation upon which we can be fired up for God!   [i] The Way to Power and Poise, p.258 Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Sometimes our generosity comes from mixed motives. It seems that some vandals had cut down six royal palms along Miami’s Flagler Street. Since the palms were very expensive, Dade County authorities weren’t sure if they could replace them very soon. But then someone donated six more and even had them planted. The old ones had been about fifteen feet tall and provided a nice foreground for a “Fly Delta” billboard. The new palms are thirty five feet tall completely hiding the sign. The new donor: Eastern Airlines.[1]   I could not verify the facts surrounding this story, but it highlights an important point for our attitudes in giving.  God seek givers who give with the right heart.  Who give for God’s purposes.  In this article we expound through Exodus 35:4 to 36:7 to discover some key attitudes we should develop to give excellently for God’s work.   In the passage, God had given instructions to Moses for the building of the tabernacle, which would become a meeting place of God.  It represented God’s house in the desert.  The Israelites were instructed to build the tabernacle, and they gave abundantly towards its building.  The way they gave is instructive to us at this point of our fund-raising.  There are 4 key principles that we can observe. GIVE OF WHAT WE HAVE   Moses commanded the people to give from what they had to build the tabernacle.  From this passage we discover 2 key principles that apply to us.   We are our own resource solution   Exodus 35:4-5 (NIV) “4 Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 5 From what you have; take an offering for the Lord.  Everyone who is willing…”   Did you notice the way God instructed the Israelites to contribute towards the tabernacle?  God only instructed the Israelites to give.  There was no mention of seeking external help.  The Israelites were the solution to building the tabernacle.  All the necessary resources resided within the Israelites themselves.  God had blessed them sufficiently. They had enough to contribute towards building the tabernacle.   Back in Exodus 12 when the Israelites left Egypt after some 400 years of slavery. Ex 12:35 - 36 (NIV) 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.  36 The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. God will provide sufficient resources for His purposes through His people.   God had blessed them in abundance of materials, enough for God’s purposes. The principle is this. God will provide sufficient resources for His purposes through His people. Of course, we can also look outside for assistance and resources.  But often, when God calls, God will provide. When God calls a church to a task, a project, God will often provide from within the local church. When a wise leadership properly manages the project, there will be sufficient from within. In faith, give of what you have and God will increase what you have.   Over the years since our own church building project started, I have noticed a very significant trend.  The wealth within our church membership had increased significantly.  Why is that?  Because they have been faithful in committing to build God’s house and God is rewarding the members’ faith.  God blessed the members so that they may bless His work.  In faith, give of what you have and God will increase what you have.   Givers will be blessed both here and in heaven.  Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”    Now I want to clarify that I am not preaching a hyper-prosperity doctrine.  That teaches: the more you give the more God will bless you materially, regardless of your attitude. It is giving so that you may get.  Often that promotes greed. But the Bible teaches that we should give unto God for His purposes, not so that we can get a multiplied return. And when we give with the right heart, not in greed, God will bless the most.  It could be materially, emotionally, spiritually or in heavenly rewards.   “The millionaires in eternity are the givers in time”. Vern McLellan[2].  When our heart is right, we will have no problems giving even if God does not bless us materially as we may hope.   We can provide a variety of resources   Exodus 35:4–19 (NIV) 5 From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze; 6 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair… 9 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 10 “All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases… 19 the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary—both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests.”   The Israelites were instructed to give from what they had.  Whether it be precious metal, fine cloth, fur, leather, select wood, oil, spices, precious jewels, etc.  In the same way, we can give from our resources whether it be money, gold, silver, diamonds!  Even cows, chickens and vegetables!  Of course, it is best to be something the church can easily make use of.   Those with the right skills were also requested to contribute their talent towards building the tabernacle.  Skills in carpentry, woodwork, metalwork, cloth, embroidery, perfumery, etc.  A wide range of skills were required. In the same way, we too can contribute of our specialist knowledge and skills to build God’s house.  Whether it be architecture, engineering, construction, interior design, landscaping, carpentry, painting, bricklaying, etc.  God will help raise many of these skills from within.  When I was a member of my first church in Melbourne, we had a church building project.  A young bricklayer donated a year of his time and basically laid the facade of the large church building almost single-handedly.  It was an amazing contribution.   GIVE FROM A WILLING HEART   In v20-29, we discover 3 aspects about giving from a willing heart.   After due consideration   Exodus 34:20 (NIV) “Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses presence…”   The whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses and had time to consider the request.  They did this because they were sincerely willing to contribute.  That they may pray and carefully consider God’s instruction. In the same way, our willingness to commit to God’s purposes is shown by our willingness to seek God. It is crucial to ask God about how we should contribute towards significant projects.  For we believe that there are great benefits in seeking and hearing God.   Firstly, it is an opportunity for us to grow in our willingness to contribute towards God’s purposes. Secondly, we grow spiritually as we learn to hear God’s rhema word. Thirdly, we learn to nurture and persevere in faith based on God’s rhema word. Fourthly, such faith will be rewarded by God.  God will move upon our situation to help us.  Nothing is impossible for God.  Impossibilities are nothing to God!    In 1 Kings 17:7-16, the widow heard the rhema word from the prophet Elijah and believed.  1 Kings 17:16 (NIV) For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.   As a result, she and her son had enough to eat during the terrible famine!   As a freewill offering unto God   Exodus 35:21, 29 (NIV) “ 21…and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought and offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments… 29 All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the LORD freewill offerings for all the work the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do.   The Israelites began to come forward and to give willingly unto the building of the tabernacle.  All kinds of things were given.  A freewill offering is an offering given freely, without compulsion, without obligation. A giving because our hearts moved us. Hence it must be distinguished from tithes.    Tithes are required by God.  A tenth of our gross income is a tithe unto God.  It is an obligation to God, not in a legalistic sense but as a principle.  Lev 27:30 - 32 (NIV) 30 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD... 32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the LORD.” Freewill offerings are given on top of the tithe because we are to give freely extra. When we give freewill offerings, God is extra pleased because we gave out of the abundance of our hearts.   When we give of our tithes, God is pleased because we obeyed His commands and honour Him. When we give freewill offerings, God is extra pleased because we gave out of the abundance of our hearts.   While Eric Hulstrand of Binford, North Dakota, was preaching one Sunday, an elderly woman, Mary, fainted and struck her head on the end of the pew. Immediately, an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) in the congregation called an ambulance. As they strapped her to a stretcher and got ready to head out the door, Mary regained consciousness. She motioned for her daughter to come near. Everyone thought she was summoning her strength to convey what could be her final words. The daughter leaned over until her ear was at her mother's mouth. "My offering is in my purse," she whispered.[3]  How is that for dedicated giving?   As a response to a need   Exodus 35:27–28 (NIV) 27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 28 They also brought spices and olive oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.   The Israelite leaders gave of the onyx stones and other gems.  The leaders gave the most expensive parts, and the most specific part suited to the function of the priest in the Holy Place.  The giving of the Israelites, especially the leaders, were not indiscriminate. They recognised the significance and the need, giving where it was most helpful.   So we may choose to give, say for community work, for missions, for the poor, for the building fund, etc.  It is up to us as we respond to certain needs.   GIVE TO BRING EXCELLENCE   Exodus 36:1 (NIV) So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”   The skilled workers were gifted by the Spirit of God in such a way to be able to bring excellence into their craftsmanship.  They eagerly worked to bring about excellence in the tabernacle.  We see evidence of the Spirit of God in the construction site.  Equipping the people to carry out the work with excellence (v32-25).   In the same way, we can contribute in a manner that brings about excellence in God’s work.  Perhaps we have giftings and experience that can bring the project to the next level in excellence. It could range from highly technical expertise to simpler hands on experience such as landscaping or planting.  The key motivation is to give excellently to bring about excellence for God’s house.   Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni painted the Sistine Chapel over a period of 4 years from 1508-1512.  Originally Pope Julius II wanted the 12 apostles, but Michelangelo proposed an incredibly more ambitious scheme portraying key scenes from Genesis plus many characters from the Old Testament leading to Christ.  Altogether some 300 figures. Once, when he was painting in some obscure corner, a friend asked why he bothered to put so much effort on a part nobody can see.  He replied, “God will see.” Michelangelo further stated, “Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.”   Excellence is about giving our best unto God!   GIVE MORE THAN ENOUGH   Exodus 35:5 (NIV) “…the people are bringing more than enough for doing the work…”   The people continued to give morning after morning.  There was an incredible line of people just lining up to give towards God’s work.  Until the craftsman had to cry out “stop”.  Such was the heart of the people that wanted to give more than enough for the completion of God’s work.  Even the workers were generous in their time and skills commitment.  We should not give in a minimalist way but in a generous way, giving more than enough.   We should not give in a minimalist way but in a generous way, giving more than enough.  Because we desire to see the glory of God’s work.  King David demonstrated this principle in his preparation for the building of God’s temple. 1 Chr 29:2 - 5 (NIV) 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, … and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.  3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:  4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen.”   He gave with great abundance so that one day his son Solomon may build this magnificent temple for God.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can do likewise?   CONCLUSION   In considering how we may contribute towards God’s work, let us consider what we have to give, whether in finance or gifting, with a willing heart. Let us give in such a way that it will help bring about excellence.  Let us consider giving in such a way that there will be more than enough. [1] James S. Hewett, ed., Illustrations Unlimited: A Topical Collection of Hundreds of Stories, Quotations, & Humor for Speakers, Writers, Pastors and Teachers (Tyndale House Publishers, 1988). [2] The Complete Book of Practical Proverbs and Wacky Wit (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1996). [3] Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

How would you describe where your spiritual life and ministry is at today? Is it in pause mode? Is it in hibernate mode? Locked down mode?  Is it in TV static mode?  Jerky.  4-cylinder engine with 2 pistons running?  Are you fed up with being at that mode?   It is time to fan aflame any flickering embers, or stuttering pistons in our journey of faith.  2 Timothy is a letter from apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy who had been sent to Ephesus to help sort out some challenging issues in the churches there.  Paul had been imprisoned for preaching the Gospel and this letter is written near the end of his life under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.   We will learn some ingredients that will help us fan aflame our spiritual life from 2 Timothy 1:1-7.  Which I will call the 3 S.   2 Timothy 1:1-7 (ESV) 1  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2  To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3  I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4  As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5  I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.   SINCERE FAITH IS FOUNDATIONAL   2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV) “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”   Paul saw sincere faith in both Timothy’s mother and grandmother.  Possibly because he either personally led them to Christ in Lystra when he planted a church there in Acts 14, or because he got to know them during his trips to Lystra (also in Acts 16).  Paul pointed out that he saw the same sincere faith in Timothy.  He then wrote, “For this reason...”.  It was upon that premise that he began to challenge Timothy to fan the gift of God.  This tells us that a sincere faith is foundational for fanning aflame the gift of God.  It is the starting point.  Some important questions to ask ourselves:   What is sincere faith?   Basically, it means a genuine, authentic faith.  No hypocrisy.  The real stuff. To get to the real stuff, we have to strip away all our outer layer of Christianese.  We may not realise it but sometimes the layer can be pretty thick in our lives.   Many years ago, I was involved in a scientific project at Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia, which was then the world’s largest producer of diamonds by volume.  For every single tonne of ore processed, they get 0.5g of diamond or 2.5 carats. Size for a nice engagement ring.  They have to strip away all the layers of rock to find the little diamonds. It was literally finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.  What faith will we find under the layers of Christian façade?    What faith will we find under the layers of Christian façade?  For sincere faith is not based on how well we have perfected our Christian lingo. Such as “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, God bless you brother”, etc!  It is not how conservatively well behaved we are.  It is not even whether we listen to good Christian music and have nice safe Christian tastes in clothes and accessories. It is not even measured by whether we have a deep grasp of theology and have great apologetics on why we believe and what we believe.  It is not even how much we have achieved in our ministry.  Now, there is nothing wrong with any of the above.  In fact, it would be great if you have all the above. The sincerity of our faith is measured by the commitment we have in our hearts to Christ.   But these are not the true measure of the sincerity of our faith, though they may provide some indicators.  The sincerity of our faith is measured by the commitment we have in our hearts to Christ.   My mother had gone to the Methodist Church since she was a toddler.  In fact, most of her relatives go to church, going back generations. Some of her relatives were very prominent in the church.  I just found out a few months ago that if we trace on her side of the family, from her grandfather all the way down to my generation, there are some 24 pastors, not even counting me and Lai Ling. My mother would piously go to church and pray every night!  Almost 30 years ago, I asked her how certain she was that she would go to heaven. I asked her whether she trusted in Christ to save her.  She did not know, she could not tell.  And she had been going to church for almost 60 years then. I had the privilege of leading her to Christ a few days later.  And what a difference it made to her faith until the day she went to be with the Lord.   God is very concerned about the sincerity of our faith.  Hebrews 10:22 (ESV)  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.   That brings us to the next question:   How sincere is our faith?   Once we remove all the layers, it all boils down to our relationship with God.  What is God to us and what is our commitment to Him?  I have been a Christian for over 40 years now.  I accepted Christ in 1983.  And in that time, I learnt a lot of Christianese.  You got to know a lot of these if you are going to be a pastor.  And when it comes to Christian ministry, I think I’ve got quite a lot of brownie points.    But you know what?  At the end of the day, when I come before Christ, it is about the sincerity of my faith.  Sometimes I forget, and God will remind me! Its like God will give me a slap in the face to wake me up from getting caught up in my own achievements. In God’s eyes, sincerity comes before success.    In God’s eyes, sincerity comes before success.  Luke 10:17–20 (ESV) 17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”  20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”   How sincere is our faith in Christ?  What is our heart commitment to Him? Our heart commitment can be illustrated by us letting Christ drive our car while we sit beside Him. Now how many of us have ever let someone else drive our car, we sit beside them and we discover they don’t drive it like we prefer?  We have this urge to take the car keys from then and take over the driving?   Have you ever found yourself edging Jesus out of the driver’s seat? Time to let Him back in! How sincere is your faith?  Perhaps it is time to take stock! And fan it aflame! Are we sincere enough to ask God  - what would you like me to be? And to move towards it? Are we sincere enough to ask God – what would you like me to do? And to do it? Sincere faith is foundational to having God’s gift fan aflame in our life.    Sincere faith is foundational to having God’s gift fan aflame in our life.  Get that right, and the rest comes much easier.   STIR THE GIFTEDNESS FROM GOD   2 Timothy 1:6 (ESV) “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands…”    Paul challenged Timothy to fan aflame the gift God had given to him.  Perhaps under the pressures he faced in the Ephesian church, he had been less than aflame.  What we can learn from this is:   God gives us giftedness.   God gives us natural gifts which we have to develop in our lifetime.  It may be a giftedness in music, or writing, or in speaking, analysing, in leading, etc. God also gives spiritual gifts when we first come to Christ.  These often add upon our natural giftedness.  God gives gifts along the way through prayer or impartation.  1 Timothy 4:14 (ESV) Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.   Timothy received certain spiritual gifts as a result of the elders praying over him.  Possibly this is what Paul was referring to in v6.  Paul was probably part of that eldership that prayed over him. God gives to every believer giftedness, so that we may effectively serve the church. To serve together.  To serve with your leaders. There is a minimum of one key spiritual giftedness that God has given you.    One of the keys is to recognise what God has gifted you.  It can cause a real excitement to rise up in your hearts. There is something exciting about discovering what God has gifted you!  Something special that God has especially gifted you for.  There is a minimum of one key spiritual giftedness that God has given you.  I encourage you to seek to discover it.   How do you discover it?  Perhaps God may tell us.  Sometimes you discover it as you try different things or others may discern it.  There are some assessments that help unearth it too.  In our church we encourage every member to get involved in at least one ministry.  Give it a go and you may discover your gifting.   Our responsibility is to stir it.   Romans 12:6–8 (ESV) 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. God will provide us gifts, but it is our responsibility to stir it aflame.    God will provide us gifts, but it is our responsibility to stir it aflame.  To bring it to its appropriate fruition. God gives but we need to apply it. To start using it faithfully, to learn how to use it wisely and more effectively.  To activate this giftedness, it usually requires us to apply faith.  It requires some courage, self-discipline and so forth.  Sometimes we get stuck precisely because we seem to lack some of these things.  I believe God has given me a call to lead and pastor the church.  But to do so, I had to step out in faith.   Some of you may be gifted by God to be evangelist, but if you lack the boldness to step out in the first place, your giftedness is not going to develop much.  If God has given you the gift of healing, you need to step out in faith to exercise it. Even when you don’t immediately see the results. John Wimber shared how he felt convicted to believe for the power of supernatural healing.  He started praying for lots of people.  But nothing happened for a long time.  He was so discouraged that he almost gave up.  But he persisted until finally he saw the first miraculous healing.  That finally started his healing ministry that became one of the hallmarks of his ministry.   God has given creative gifts to you.  Use it for God’s glory. Leaders, it is crucial that you learn to spot and discern giftedness and help them draw it out!  Let’s fan aflame our giftedness!    Sometimes we might find it challenging when we face difficulties, but God has provided us the answer.  God has provided His Holy Spirit.   SPIRIT TO OVERCOME CHALLENGES   2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) “…  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”   Sometimes as we step out to serve God, we can face obstacles.  Discouragement.  Disillusionment may arise.  It is not easy.  I have had to face many challenges in my own ministry yet by the power of the Holy Spirit in me, it has helped me gain victory.   God did not give unto us a timid Holy Spirit who simply retreats into a safe shell.  No!  God’s spirit in us helps us, empowers us to overcome the challenges that we face.  In v7 alone, we discover that it is a: When we allow the Spirit of God to stir faith in our hearts, courage begins to arise.    Spirit of courage.  When we allow the Spirit of God to stir faith in our hearts, courage begins to arise.  Courage to stand tall because you have the conviction that God is backing you up.  Those who know me, know that I am generally a cautious person.  But when I am certain that God has spoken, I begin to step out with much greater boldness.   Something stirs in my heart, and I am able to say, “Let’s do it!”  Planting our church in Brisbane was very much such a courageous step of faith, birthed out of the Holy Spirit’s leading.   Spirit of power.  The Holy Spirit brings spiritual authority and power.  You may look at yourself and think that you have no power, nor authority to get things moving.  But the Holy Spirit has all the power and authority to get His agenda moving.  You just have to flow with Him.    Spirit of love.   Love is the highest and purest level of motivation.  1 Corinthians 13:1 - 3 (NIV) 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.   God desires love as a key motivation.  Sometimes we struggle with our motivation.  Let God get involved in your motivation. Let Him transform our heart motivations.  I discovered from my own experience, that I need go to God every so often and ask Him to adjust my heart.   Spirit of self-control.   Galatians 5:22–24 (ESV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.   It is when we walk more and more with the Holy Spirit, that we will find more and more of His fruit will become evident in our lives, including self-control.  The self-control we need to harness the gifts God gives and to develop in it.   The above is not a comprehensive list but to point to fact that God has actually given us what we already need to stir the gifts in our lives.  The Holy Spirit in us.  Remember how the Holy Spirit came upon Gideon in power and a nobody turned into a somebody!   That is why we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. A major area of empowerment is to be baptised by the Holy Spirit.  Another way the Holy Spirit empowers us is through spiritual people who are available to encourage us.  Therefore, step out to support one another!  Step out to help shoulder burdens.  Let’s fan aflame together!    CONCLUSIONS   Don’t get fed up with a lack of progress in your spiritual journey but get fired-up.  Let’s make sure we have a sincere faith, looking beyond the fluff in our lives into the core of the matter.  How sincere is our heart-commitment to Christ?   Realise that God has already given you gifts, but you have to discover it and activate it by applying those gifts with faith.  That will help fan aflame your spiritual life. Recognise also that the Holy Spirit is able to provide all you need to fan aflame the gift of God.  Get together and support one another in your church, encourage one another forward in God.  A good spiritual community can help fan the flames. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

It was reported in May 2008 that man is suing JetBlue airlines for $2 million in the New York State Supreme Court.  He is suing for the extreme humiliation he suffered when he was forced to give up his seat for a sick flight attendant.  The alternate seat he was given? The toilet!   The man, Gokhan Mutlu checked in for a jetBlue 5 hour flight from San Diego to New York and was told the flight was full. Mutlu was allowed to board after a jetBlue flight attendant agreed to give up her seat and travel in an airline employee "jump seat." However, 90 minutes into the flight, the pilot told Mutlu the flight attendant was feeling uncomfortable and he would have to give up his seat and "hang out" in the bathroom for the remainder of the flight, the lawsuit said.   The pilot "became angry at his reluctance to comply" and said Mutlu "should be grateful for being onboard," the lawsuit said. When Mutlu volunteered to sit in the "jump seat," he was told it was reserved for airline personnel. At one point, the airplane experienced turbulence and Mutlu sat on the toilet seat without a seat belt, causing him "tremendous fear," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit claims JetBlue negligently endangered him by not providing him with a seat with a safety belt or harness, in violation of federal law.   We live in an era where lawsuits are common and perhaps sometimes over the board.  In fact, there is a website called overlawyerd.com that compiles lawsuits to show how ridiculous some lawsuits have become.  Nevertheless, much of the concepts of compensations do derive from the Bible. It is important to understand some important principles when injuries do happen.  From it, we can also learn a lot about taking personal responsibility for our actions.   From Exodus 21:18-36 we will highlight some key principles. I must highlight that these laws were meant to help bring fairness and consistency for the Israelite community to function while they were in the desert.  These laws were given in a context of the existing social practices.  God did not intend to radically over-turn every practice hence He allowed certain practices to continue during that time.  God just modified it to improve it.   1.  TO WHAT EXTENT ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE?   Basic principles for determining extent of responsibility   Exodus 21:26–29 (NIV) 26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. 28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.   Examples given here outline some key principles for determining the degree to which we are responsible for an injury.  We may conceptualise the extent of responsibility according to 3 broad categories.   Intentional.  In v26-27, the slave owner beats a slave and brings permanent injury.  Then the owner is held fully responsible for the injury.  For the owner clearly inflicted the injury by beating the slave.   Accidental.  In v28 gives an example of a bull that unexpectedly gores (pierce or stabs) someone to death.  In this incident there was no possible prior knowledge that the bull would behave in this way.  It was unexpected.  Hence, the owner will not be charged for causing death but the dangerous animal is to be put down. Note the bull’s meat is not to be eaten is a precaution against diseases such as rabies.   Negligence.  In v29 gives an example where the owner did know that the bull had a habit of goring people. The owner had been warned previously to keep it penned up because it can be a danger to others.  Yet the owner failed to do so.  If the bull does gore someone to death, then the owner is held fully responsible and face the death penalty.  This is the principle of negligence.    It refers to a criminally careless or reckless act that results in injury to others.  They should have known better. It was reasonably foreseeable.  But nothing reasonable was done to prevent the possibility of injury occurring to others.   Negligence can also occur when a person, such as doctors, owe a certain duty of care but failed to reasonably deliver it.    Taking responsibility.   Courier Mail On Aug 2008 reported that cartwheels, handstands and somersaults by children were banned at a north Queensland school last week.  Education Minister Rod Welford admitted that fear of legal action was partly behind the decision.  Nearly 100 lawsuits were filed against the State of Queensland for injuries suffered by schoolchildren in the last financial year.   One child is asking for $280,000 plus interest after she hurt herself playing tiggy (a tag chase child game) in the Bribie Island State School in 2004 when she was six. She tripped on a metal bar "comprising part of the playground equipment" during her lunchbreak. It is alleged she suffered a shortening of her right leg, disuse osteoporosis and a deformity at the neck of the right femur as a result of the fall and then inadequate medical treatment by Queensland Health.  The girl claims that she was not supervised adequately and the playground equipment was not safe.   What has happened to taking personal responsibility? God determines responsibility on the basis of how much we should reasonably have known about the consequences of our actions.   Throughout Scriptures we find that God determines responsibility on the basis of how much we should reasonably have known about the consequences of our actions. Job 4:8 (NIV) As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. Also, Psalms 126:5 (NIV) Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.   God is the ultimate judge of our actions and our responsibility. Galatians 6:7 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.   God holds us responsible for our response to the Gospel. John 3:16 - 18 (NIV) 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life...  18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.    If we choose to believe, God will save us.  If we choose to reject, we stand condemned already.  It is our choice because of our preference. God gives us choice.  And He holds us responsible for our choices.    God gives us choice.  And He holds us responsible for our choices.  We will reap what we sow!  Unfortunately, too many people try to avoid responsibility for their actions.  “My parents made me do it.  My circumstances forced me to do it.  The Devil made me do it!  My anger, my depression, my hunger, etc.  It is everybody else but me!”  But, it was me!    Despite our shifting the blame, God knows everything and He will judge us accordingly.  In the Garden of Eden, when God confronted Adam about his sin, Adam quickly pointed the finger to Eve and said, “It was the woman you gave me!”  And Eve quickly pointed to the serpent and said, “It was the serpent you made!”  And the serpent had no one else to blame. We cannot escape God’s judgment, though we may escape men for a while.    We cannot escape God’s judgment, though we may escape men for a while.  2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.   If we sin, we better genuinely repent before God! Also, until and unless we take proper responsibility, we will never begin to address the problem properly.  Perhaps if we have a smoking or drug addiction, we could blame work, spouse, stress but until we take ownership, we will not address our problems.   On the other hand, there are some things we should not take full responsibility for.  Sometimes we torture ourselves by blaming ourselves for things that we are not really responsible.  For example, when driving your car, your tyre blew up because there was a small sharp object on the road.  Your car swerved uncontrollably and smashed into a pedestrian who became paralysed for life.  Should you blame yourself and feel guilty for the rest of your life?  No. It was not your fault. We should be willing to take responsibility and know what to take responsibility for.   We should be willing to take responsibility and know what to take responsibility for.     2.  TO WHAT EXTENT WAS LOSS SUFFERED?   Basic principles to determine loss   What is loss?  Loss is the state or feeling of grief when deprived of someone, or something of value. The Scriptural examples provide for us aspects to consider types of loss a person can suffer.   Exodus 21:18–19 (NIV) 18 “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.   Loss of productive time or income (v18-19).  The injured person suffers loss because he is not able to work.    Exodus 21:20 (NIV)  “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.   Loss of life (v20). If someone is killed, then the wrongdoer must face the consequences.  A loss of life affects the family and possibly the broader community. When an army man dies in war for his country, the Australian Government compensation is paid to his wife and family because there is great loss.  While we can still legitimately claim our ‘right’ for compensation, we can also respond like Jesus in the matter.  When Jesus was crucified, He did not seek compensation.   While we can still legitimately claim our ‘right’ for compensation, we can also respond like Jesus in the matter.  When Jesus was crucified, He did not seek compensation.  Luke 23:34 (NIV) Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   A member from one of our centres tragically lost her parents in a car accident, due to negligent driving from a young girl. She wrote a heartfelt letter to the judge, police and girl responsible to express her forgiving the girl. Many months later the police let the young girl go free without even a fine.    This may seem unfair, and you are right.   This is an act of grace (unmerited favour).  Was it fair that the Son of God be butchered by his own creation? The answer is clearly no, it is not fair.  Some “rights” are not worth claiming.  We can leave it to the Lord to judge.  Sometimes man’s judgements seem unfair when some seems to get away with it.  We can take comfort in Romans 12:19 (NIV) Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.    We should entrust it to God. He is able to deal with matters with grace, justice and wisdom, far better than we could ever deal with it.   Exodus 21:23-27 (NIV) 22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.   Loss of function of body (v22-27) When a person loses some body function, whether a limb or other part, it can have devastating effects.  Perhaps they will not be able to perform their work or live life normally.   Exodus 21:33–34 (NIV) 33 “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.   Loss of resources (v33-34) such as livestock. If someone hits a taxi, not only does he ought to pay for the damage, but also for the loss of income when the taxi is off the road.   Becoming aware of loss inflicted. As a community we must take responsibility not just for ourselves but also how our actions affect others. As a community we must take responsibility not just for ourselves but also how our actions affect others. Especially when it causes loss. Usually, our society is preoccupied with how other people’s actions affect us.  But as Christians let us operate God’s way. Turn the world’s way around.  Be more concerned about how our actions affect other people!  Be more considerate.   If I am mean to others, how will it affect them? If I am negligent, how does that affect people around me? If I am forgetful how does that affect people around me? What if as Christians we go beyond what the law teaches and get to the heartbeat?  Out of genuine love for people? To care for people around us?   3.  TO WHAT EXTENT SHOULD YOU COMPENSATE?   There are some crazy compensations awarded to people today by the courts. In Lancaster, Pasadena, USA, Jeffrey Klein and Brett Birdwell were 17 “when they trespassed onto railroad property and climbed atop a rail car” because they wanted to see the view from there. They were electrocuted by a 12,500-volt wire and apparently severely injured. Their attorney said the railroads (Amtrak and Norfolk Southern) should have posted signs for the benefit of trespassers warning of the overhead hazard and also should have had the electricity turned off at the time.   Did they get anything? They were awarded US$24.2 million. How severe were their injuries? Birdwell, who was awarded $6.8 million, had his injuries miraculously improve enough to join the Army in Afghanistan.   Basic principles to determine compensation   3 basic principles in determining compensation.  Extent which a person is responsible, the extent of actual loss suffered or will be suffered and the appropriate compensation for the loss. There are 3 basic principles in determining compensation.  Extent which a person is responsible, the extent of actual loss suffered or will be suffered and the appropriate compensation for the loss.   Exodus 21:35–36 (NIV) 35 “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.   In v35-36 we see these various elements being put into consideration.  In v35, we find extent of loss: a bull.  Extent of responsibility: the owner of the bull is not charged for negligence for the actions of his bull, yet is held partially responsible.  Extent of compensation?  Sell the live bull and split the money between both parties.   In v36, it makes it clear that if the bull has a known habit of goring, then the owner is held fully responsible for the loss suffered.  Because it is negligence.  So the owner is to pay fully for the loss of an animal.   Exodus 21:29–32 (NIV) 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.   In v29-31, if the owner’s bull kills a person, the owner is punishable by death.  But if payment is acceptable, the owner may redeem his life by making an acceptable payment.   In the case of the slave of v32, we may ask why a price of 30 shekels was set?  The value of 30 shekels is not easy to define.  Some believe it may be worth as much as a year’s wages.  Joseph was sold for 20 shekels (Genesis 37:28).  Jesus was betrayed for a princely sum of 30 silver shekels (Matthew 26:15).   Hence it is likely that the sum was set to 30 shekels, to ensure a slave is not under-valued but in fact to ensure a reasonable minimum for compensation.   Indeed, v26-27 tells us that if an owner inflicts permanent damage upon a slave, such as knocking out a tooth – the slave must be set free.  In v20, if an owner kills a slave, then the owner must face punishment too.  This gives protection and value to the slave.  In the surrounding culture of the time, that would be radical.   Making up for the loss suffered. God’s principle is if we cause injury, we must compensate for the loss in some reasonable way. God’s principle is simply this.  If we cause injury, we must compensate for the loss in some reasonable way. Every person is valuable. If we cause them injury and hamper their ability to function as they should or they go backwards in some way, let us do it God’s way.  Take responsibility to correct the situation as much as we can.   Compensation is not always in monetary terms.  Sometimes it requires a simple yet genuine apology.  Perhaps if we injured some one’s feeling’s, like our wife – bring flowers!? Perhaps it requires giving of our time and energy to correct the situation.   When one of our leaders was shooting a short film about stones, an opal shop owner kindly lent her some valuable opals.  He also explained they were of great personal value to himself.  Despite being careful with the gems, someone stole them from her bag when she was not looking.  Although the police said it was not her fault, she personally had nonetheless decided to compensate the shop owner the full costs. She prayed to the Lord almost all night and got others to pray also because she would have struggled to pay the full compensation. Thank God after much prayer for the conviction of the Holy Spirit and some police work, the thief returned the stones.   Too many people are disconnected from a sense of responsibility today.  By requiring them to be personally involved in the compensation will help them gain a deeper sense of the loss they caused.  Hence, the compensation can also serve as a deterrent to future negligence or intentional harm.  If they vandalise a building, they should do community work, cleaning up graffiti or helping to rebuild buildings.  They are to repair the damage done.   If they drive recklessly, they should do community work such as assisting injured people.  If someone did harm, they have to help bring restoration of some kind.  This is the concept of restorative justice.   Have we brought injury to anyone?  Did we injure them physically, emotionally or mentally?  Did we cause loss to what they owned?  What have we done to compensate for it?  God expects us to do the right thing.  As Christians are we motivated by God’s law to compensate people around us or by Christ to love those around us? Let us operate on the higher law of love.   CONCLUSION   For a community to function properly there must be a well-developed sense of responsibility. Especially when we have cause injury or loss to others. Let us develop a clear sense of the extent of our responsibilities and make compensations appropriate to the extent of loss caused.   Let us be a righteous people that make just compensations.  Let us be loving people and take care not to bring harm to others. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Have you ever wished you were rich?  If only we had a fat bank account?  That we could walk into a department store and buy stuff without even looking at the price tag?   There are numerous people who dream of becoming rich.  There are get quick rich programs that says, “Be a Millionaire before 30”.  My Dad said that the closest he ever got was to have a millionaire . And to own a Mercedes, even though it was a second hand 20 year-old car!    There is so much out there that urges us to get rich, invest into all kinds of wealth generating schemes, etc.  And it can all be so tempting.  But what does the Bible have to say about all this?  So today we will put Wealth In Its Proper Place.   As we examine the Scriptures, we find 1 Timothy 6:17-19 addressing the issue of wealth.  1 Timothy 6:17–19 (NIV)  17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.   The city of Ephesus was a centre of commerce.  It was a prosperous city and there were some wealthy members in the church.  The instructions given in Scripture to them are instructive to us as well today.  Let us look at some of these principles.   HOPE NOT IN WEALTH   Scriptures puts it very clearly – do not put our hope in wealth.  Why?   Wealth is uncertain   1 Timothy 6:17 (NIV)   Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain…   Scriptures throw a very different light on wealth. For material wealth is a temporal asset.  It will come and go. Proverbs 11:28 (NIV) Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.  Proverbs 23:4 - 5 (NIV) 4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. 5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.   There will be those who race up the mountain of wealth and seem to bask in the limelight, but soon they fade away.  Eddy Groves was the founder and CEO of ABC Learning, once one of Australia’s largest companies and one of the world’s biggest childcare providers.  The company was worth $2.5 billion at one point making him one of the richest man in Australia. He lived a lavish lifestyle and was known as “Fast Eddie”.  He even bought the Brisbane Bullets basketball team and made them a successful team. But in 2008, everything fell apart.  ABC Learning went into bankruptcy with debts exceeding $1 billion and Eddy Groves lost almost everything.  He was pursued in court over many millions of debt.  It was then revealed that his marriage to his wife was a sham for business reasons.  They had actually separated in 1998 but never made it known until last year. Australia has a whole list of people who became incredibly successful and almost disgustingly rich, only to fall into hard times.  The disgraced Alan Bond and Christopher Skase were the most well-known in Australia.   Even though the wealthy and famous may be admired, often their personal lives are in disarray.  Wealth does not guarantee us happiness nor peace in our hearts.  Eddy Groves with his sham of a marriage, Tiger Woods with his broken marriage.   In fact, often wealth can create incredible stress. There was an interview at 96.5FM, where a young man was once a very successful marketing manager at Harvey Norman.  He was instrumental in marketing of the Computing Division at Harvey Norman.  He helped grow the company from scratch to a highly successful, multi-million division.  He had a wonderful reputation.  Then one day his wife gave him a short business proposition.  Quit his job or be divorced.  His success was limited to only one facet of his life while he was failing in his family life.     Those who place their hope in wealth will be greatly disappointed.   Beware arrogance of wealth   1 Timothy 6:17 also warned the wealthy not to be arrogant.  Why this warning to the wealthy? No doubt, those who have worked hard and grew wealthy often did this through hard work and by having insightful business acumen.  Through smart business deals, wisely reading the sign of the times, by building strong business relationships and so forth.  No doubt, evidence of wisdom.   Yet what does the Bible have to say?  The Scriptures gave a warning to a wealthy man in Ezekiel 28:2 - 5 (NIV)  2“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.”  But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. 3 Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you? 4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud. We can become rich because of natural wisdom.  But natural wisdom can lead us down the path of pride.   This ruler had great skills, wisdom and understanding!  He became exceedingly wealthy.  And he became exceedingly proud!  There is a difference between natural wisdom and godly wisdom.  We can become rich because of natural wisdom.  But natural wisdom can lead us down the path of pride, where we may begin to think too highly of ourselves. Proverbs 28:11 (NIV) A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.   A poor man with discernment sees an arrogant man, not a wise man.  One danger of having built our wealth is that we may begin to think too highly of ourselves. I am not saying only the wealthy face this problem.  Many other people can become proud.  But for the rich, this is a particularly strong danger.  If we have been fortunate to be wealthy or to become wealthy one day, it would be good to remember to keep humble before God!   For some of us perhaps not being wealthy may be a blessing. Otherwise we may easily become arrogant! Though some of us may wish, can we just be a little rich?   HOPE IN GOD   1 Timothy 6:17b (NIV) “...but to put their hope in God...”   The Scriptures urge us not to put our hope in wealth, but to place our hope in God.  We are to take our focus away from wealth and towards God!  Why?   God has the final say, not wealth.   Luke 12:16 - 21 (NIV) 16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”  Wealth is like a painkiller, it can help dull the pain of sin but it is no cure.    Wealth is no saviour, it saves no one.  Only God can.  Wealth is like a painkiller, it can help dull the pain of sin but it is no cure.  In fact, it often hides the fact there is a serious problem.  Wealth is no panacea, but in fact may be a drug.  On the other hand, God loves us enough to want to help us deal with our root problem.  And that is sin.  God is faithful and will not let us down, if we would trust in Him.    God provides generously   1 Timothy 6:17c (NIV) “...who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”   When we pursue after God first, rather than wealth – it does not mean we become poor and destitute because we run away from wealth.  The Bible never speaks about fleeing from wealth.  It speaks about feeling idolatry, sexual immorality, wicked deeds, greed, but never wealth. It is ok to be wealthy and God does bless some of His people to be wealthy.   For some of us, God probably knows better that we should not be wealthy – otherwise we may become proud, etc.  But nevertheless, when we walk with God properly, we will experience God’s blessings.  For God will provide generously.  God wants us to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Isaiah 65:22 (NIV) ...For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.   God knows what we need.  He will provide as we seek Him first. Matthew 6:33 (NIV) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.    It is fine to be wealthy, but make sure it is never at the expense of our focus on God.   BRING HOPE WITH WEALTH   Be good stewards of wealth   1 Timothy 6:18 (NIV)   Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. The rich are to be commanded to be rich in good deeds.   The rich are to be commanded to be rich in good deeds.  They are to make use of their wealth generously to bless others.  Why?  Because we must understand that we are merely stewards of all we have.  You see, God owns everything. Psalms 24:1 (NIV)  The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;   Everything we have comes from God, our giftedness, even our personality comes from God.  James 1:17 (NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights...    God has allowed, even blessed some of us to gain wealth.  But we should understand that we are called to be stewards of all that we have.  That we may use it wisely for His glory and for His kingdom. 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.      For example, the parable of Matthew 25:15 tells us different servants being given different amounts of talent.  One is given 5 talents, another 2 and another 1.  When the master returned, he expected each to have been faithful with these talents.  The one with 5 gained 5 more and was rewarded by the master.  The one with 2 gained 2 more and was rewarded as well.  When we are faithful stewards, God is pleased and reward us.  Hence, should we have wealth, we should be wise stewards and use it wisely to be a blessing to others.  Be generous to help. God will not measure how much wealth you generated.  But how much of your wealth did you use faithfully to bring glory to God.   In the end, God will not measure how much wealth you generated.  But how much of your wealth did you use faithfully to bring glory to God.  I believe that God wants to bring wealthy Christians together to strategically make an impact for His Kingdom.  If God has given you funds, perhaps you can consider how to strategically sow it in the Kingdom.   Sow to build people’s lives.  Perhaps to encourage different ones to grow in God’s Word.  Helping fund them for conferences.  Perhaps to help certain ministries – helping them to purchase equipment or fund them to get training. Perhaps fund different community projects that help the needy.   Seek eternal treasure   1 Timothy 6:19 (NIV) In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Put priority into building their treasures in heaven, more than treasures on earth.    The Scriptures urge the wealthy to put priority into building their treasures in heaven, more than treasures on earth. For the treasures in heaven is eternal.  Matthew 6:19 - 21 (NIV) 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.   It is far more important to build treasures that last, than treasures that are fleeting, quickly gone.  I rather be a poor man on earth and a rich man in God, than a rich man on earth who is poor in God!  There will be many today who are not wealthy on earth, but wait till they get to heaven.  God will roll out the red carpet for some of them.  The angels will give them a celebrity treatment.  They will cheer them on as they walk past the pearly gates.  They will be awarded the Heavenly Oscar awards for Best Giver, Best Steward, Best Builder of the Kingdom.  Perhaps an award for being the Richest Poor Believer.   When we do what is right before God.  When we bless others.  When we do good deeds, God will give a tick! You gain heavenly brownie points!   CONCLUSIONS   Wealth must be put in its proper place.  Wealth can be a curse if approached wrongly.  It can be a blessing if approach God’s way.  Wealth when properly used for God’s Kingdom can be a blessing to many.  Most importantly, build treasures in heaven first rather than on earth. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

What is your relationship to New Year resolution? Wonderful? Bittersweet?  Love-hate?  Indifferent?  Or as my daughter said, “Why wait till the New Year?”  Obviously, my daughter is into goal-setting and resolutions.   Many people make New Year resolutions.  Like I will exercise more and lose weight.  I will be nicer to my family or colleagues. I will spend less and save more! And most people get off to a decent start, until the second week!    Sometimes the same can happen to believers too.  In terms of their Christian faith. In this article I will look into keeping true to our Christian faith.  Many people start out well, or at least enthusiastically with some noble aims.  But how well do we end the race?   So how do we keep true to our Christian faith?  What are some aspects that we should keep in mind?  What are some aspects in our hearts that we should look out for? Let me suggest some areas to consider by examining 1 Timothy 6:11-16.   1 Timothy 6:11–16 (NIV)  11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.   BE KNOWN BY WHAT YOU FLEE FROM   1 Timothy 6:11a (NIV) ‘But you, man of God, flee from all this...” There are things to fight for and there are things to flee from, as a man of God. We do not run because we are fearful.  But because we are wise to protect ourselves.    Apostle Paul urged Timothy to flee from the sins of the unrighteous.  There are things to fight for and there are things to flee from, as a man of God. It is not being a coward to flee from certain things.  There needs to be wisdom to discern between battles that we should fight for and battles we should flee from.  We do not run because we are fearful.  But because we are wise to protect ourselves.    We should not be embarrassed by the fact that there are certain things we avoid.  Some people think it is a sign of cowardice or weakness to step away from something.  That is how some people are taunted into doing something they later regret.  “Are you afraid?  Are you a chicken?”  Consider these wise thoughts.   “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, Alexander Pope.    Proverbs 14:16 (NIV) A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hot-headed and reckless.   In the Australian Black Saturday bushfires of 7th February 2009 in the state of Victoria, 450,000 hectares of land were burned. A total of 173 people died and 414 were injured. Over 1 million domesticated and wild animals were lost.  Wind speeds reached over 120km/h and fuelled a massive fire front destroying over 2000 houses and damaged thousands more.  In the face of such a fire, it would be folly to try to fight it head on.  It is wiser to flee to protect ourselves.   Sometimes it is a reflection of greater wisdom and greater strength to step away from something. The Bible is very clear that there are unrighteous things that we should flee from.  To keep well away from.  We should not imagine that we can keep walking along the cliff, looking down into the abyss of unrighteousness and think that we will not tip over.  The slightest error of judgment, the slightest gust of wind, the slightest misstep and we fall headlong into it.   We should not imagine that we are so strong that we can surround ourselves amongst temptations and not fall eventually.  It is like choosing to live amongst patients infected with the worst contagious diseases known to mankind and thinking we will not get infected.  Flee says the Bible, from unrighteousness!  Keep it as far away from our hearts as we know how.   The immediate link to this verse in v9-11, is the preceding problem of greed that has snared many.  We are to flee from greed.  Financial success can be a wonderful thing and there is nothing wrong to have wealth.  But should our hearts become infected with greed, then it will lead to great problems.   There are also several things the Bible clearly states we should flee from.  1 Corinthians 6:18 (NIV) Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.  1 Corinthians 10:14 (NIV) Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.  2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV) Flee the evil desires of youth...   Sexual immorality, idolatry, youthful lust and other such behaviours will ensnare us on a downward path of destruction.  That is why the Bible warns us strongly. Are you known to be someone to keeps well away from such things?  Are you making sure that you are not entangled in such compromises?  Are we in situations right now that we should flee from? Keep true.  Keep away from unrighteousness.   BE KNOWN FOR WHAT YOU PURSUE AFTER   1 Tim 6:11b (NIV) “...pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” We should be known even more for what we pursue after, rather than what we flee from.    We should be known even more for what we pursue after, rather than what we flee from.  Would you rather be known for outrunning the Black Saturday bushfires or for outrunning Usain Bolt, the world champion runner for 100 and 200m? Not many will remember you for the first because you were fleeing.  But many will remember you for the second because you were pursuing.  Hopefully what you pursue after will be well known because it reflects your passion.  Because it is inspirational!  Perhaps you can be a legend! Righteousness is about right behaviour before God while godliness is about right character before God.   The Bible urges us to pursue after things which are virtuous, of eternal value.  Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness are some of these.  Righteousness is about right behaviour before God while godliness is about right character before God, ie god-likeness.  Godliness will be evidenced by righteousness.   There was a season of 15 months which was an extremely challenging time for me.  It drove me to evaluate what I stood for.  I have been fortunate to experience many successes.  Yet as I evaluated myself before God, my conviction is that righteousness and godliness is far more important than success before man.  It is success before God that is most important. God challenged my wife and I to stand rightly before Him.  Pursuing success before man could have been an easier option, but not a route I want to take.  I don’t want to appear before God with my successes and when God puts it to the test, it all burns up!  To keep to my convictions, I had to make tough decisions.  I had to stand up for righteousness.  I had to put many cherished things I had worked so hard for years on the line.  And I am so glad I stood up for righteousness.  God proved Himself faithful.  I hope one day I will be known for pursuing righteousness and godliness.  That my convictions were to maintain integrity before man and God.   Billy Graham, in his younger days was tall, charismatic, dashing evangelist.  Even Hollywood and political parties tried to woo him to join them.  But he turned them down because he would not divert from God’s call upon his life!  Despite being the most influential evangelist ever, he only received a modest salary all his ministry.  He pursued after the call of God upon his life with dedication and sacrifice.  He fled from greed and unrighteousness.  These virtues the Bible talks about are not gained easily nor is it maintained easily.  Maintaining spiritual virtues and godly character requires focus, consistent spiritual disciplines and exercise.    If we are to maintain our muscle tone, we need to be involved in consistent exercise that stretches our muscles.  If we fail to maintain regular exercise, our muscles start to lose their tone.  Eventually we start to lose muscle mass and it starts being replaced by fat.  In the same way, maintaining spiritual virtues and godly character requires focus, consistent spiritual disciplines and exercise.  That is why we are urged to pursue!  It requires some effort, some determination and some discipline.  Even courage.  God is there with us.  God is backing us.  God provides us all that we need to pursue these virtues.  God provides His grace to do so.  We just have to apply it.   What are we pursuing after in our lives?  Are we pursuing career, success, relationships?  And there is nothing wrong in pursuing some aspects of these.  Yet the greater thing to pursue after are eternal things.  And God will bless us in return.  Proverbs 21:21 (NIV) He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.   Why don’t we consider this year to pursue more diligently what is virtuous before God, those of eternal value.  Make it one of our New Year resolutions! Keep true.  Keep pursuing godly virtues!   BE KNOWN FOR WHAT YOU FIGHT FOR   1 Tim 6:12 (NIV) “Fight the good fight of the faith.”   Now it is interesting that the NIV translates this in the same way as in 1 Tim 1:18. However, the Greek is quite different.  That is not to mean the translation is incorrect.  Just that the nuance is different.  In this verse it is actually agōnizomai kalos agon pistis . From agonizomai is derived the English word agonize.  Really the word means to contend but more in terms of an athlete. Contend for the noble contention of faith.  While in 1:18 it is actually strateuomai kalos strateia .  War a good warfare.   In this verse Apostle Paul was likely instructing Timothy firstly, to contend for his faith personally in terms of maintaining purity of faith and practise as we see in v11. Secondly, Paul was also reminding him to fight for the integrity of the Christian faith.  Remember that at that time there were false teachers who had made significant inroads in the Ephesians church and Timothy was to deal with the false teachers as well as all the problems that they had caused in perverting the Christian faith.   While v11b urges us to pursue after virtuous behaviour and character, aspects that characterise who we are, v12 urges us to fight for the faith.  I wish to focus on the second aspect today.  Fight for the Christian faith that it will not be compromised by false teaching, not diluted by luke-warmness, not sidelined by apathy amongst believers,   As God’s people, we should contend for the faith.  We should fight for the Christian faith that it will not be compromised by false teaching, not diluted by luke-warmness, not sidelined by apathy amongst believers, that souls be damned because the church cannot get its act together.   When I watch the greenies fight for climate change, when I read about the exploits of the Greenpeace International or the Sea Shepherd Society as they fight against the whaling industry – I admire their passion and dedication.  Though I don’t share their perspectives.   As Christians, we have a far more important fight on our hands.  A fight that has eternal outcomes.  It is crucial that Christians fight to maintain the purity of our faith.  That we fight against the Devil’s attempts to muzzle the church and to sideline it.  That we fight to bring the Good News in a way that is relevant to all kinds of people in this city and beyond.  That we fight the spiritual warfare against the kingdom of darkness that seeks to destroy lives of many through all kinds of perversions.   Ephesians 6:11 - 12 (NIV) 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.    We cannot stop while there are still so many without Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV) For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all...    Many godly men who were greatly used of God had such deep convictions.  William Booth, founder of Salvation Army was asked by the king of England what was the ruling force of his life.  “Sir, some men’s passion is for gold, other men’s passions is for fame.  But my passion is for souls.”  George Whitefield, one of the greatest evangelists in the 18th century saw many tens of thousands of people come to Christ. `Lord, give me souls or take my soul.’   Let us be known for what we fight for!  A worthy cause.  An eternal cause!  Keep true.  Keep fighting the fight for the faith!   BE KNOWN FOR WHOM YOU ARE FAITHFUL TO   1 Tim 6:13-16 (NIV)  13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.   Apostle Paul rounded up his charge to Timothy before God.  Why?  Because Paul knew that Timothy’s heart was to be faithful to God.  That was why Paul referred to Christ’s example, who was faithful in everything including His confession of His heavenly Kingdom to Pilate. Paul charged Timothy to keep to God’s commands without spot or blemish until Jesus returned.  In the same way, will we continue to be faithful to Christ until the very end?  Just as Paul was able to say in 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.    I have passed the half-way mark.  I still have a long way to go. My heart is that at the end of my days, when I go to heaven, I will meet God and He will say, “My good and faithful servant!”  Why so?  Because He is the giver of eternal life to us.  Because He is the Ruler, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Because he is the eternal and majestic God who lives in unapproachable light!  He is the Almighty God. There is no person more worthy than God to whom we should be faithful.    There is no person more worthy than God to whom we should be faithful. He is truly deserving of my honour and truly deserving of my faithfulness. At the end of my days, I want to be known to be faithful to at least 2 key persons in my life.  My wife and my God.  So let’s keep true.  Keep faithful to God.   CONCLUSIONS   Let us keep true to God.  By fleeing from unrighteousness.  By pursuing after godly virtues.  By fighting for the faith.  By being faithful to God. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

In the famous cartoon strip Calvin & Hobbs, young Calvin once made a dazzling observation, “I’m always right and everybody else is wrong! What’s to argue about?”  Calvin is so arrogant, isn’t he?   Have you ever been around contentious people?  They seem to be constantly stirring up controversy or disputes.  In fact, they seem to even enjoy it.  But perhaps if we look at ourselves.  Could we be a bit contentious?  Might we be considered contentious to others?   In 1 Timothy 6:3-5 we learn about a group of people who are contentious and have caused many problems in the Ephesian church.  These false teachers stirred up contention in the church.  Here, Apostle Paul was giving some instructions to Timothy on dealing with them.  From this passage, I unpack 4Cs that characterise a contentious person.   CONCEITED   1 Timothy 6:3–4a (NIV) 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing.   Apostle Paul was referring to false teachers who were creating issues in the church with their unhealthy and controversial teachings.  Instead of sticking with sound and godly doctrines, they preferred to stir up controversy from obscure or irrelevant details by making a lot out of little.  1 Timothy 1:3 - 4 (NIV) 3... command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer  4nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith.    Paul identifies a key attitude in these teachers that has fuelled their contentious behaviour.  It is conceit.  An egotistical, arrogant attitude.  What they had was …   An over-rated sense of self-importance   Simon the Sorcerer was such a person. Simon thought a world of himself because he could do some things that others could not.  But, God thought very little of him.  Acts 8:9 (NIV) Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great… Those who are conceited are blinded to their pride and arrogance.   Paul was referring to those proud of their own importance or knowledge.  They place their own interpretations and views of Scriptures above what the Scriptures actually teach.    Often those who are conceited are blinded to their pride and arrogance.  They do not see it.  As far as they are concerned, they deserve to be where they are because of their giftedness or greater knowledge.  Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)  The way of a fool seems right to him...   But in reality, their boasts are often empty.   2 Peter 2:18 (NIV) For they mouth empty, boastful words...   Do you know what the irony is? The sad irony is that actually ...   They understand nothing   The conceited become so self-absorbed that they can't recognize the truth, losing themselves in their own misguided perceptions. The conceited become so self-absorbed that they can't recognize the truth, losing themselves in their own misguided perceptions.  They know a lot, but understood nothing.  Romans 1:22 (NIV) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools...    Due to their attitude, the arrogant dismiss anything that does not align with their viewpoint. Like a huge filter, only certain things can get through.  Facts that support their perspective!  In my time as a research scientist, I encountered a number of huge egos.  Some scientists even created their own scientific journals so that they can promote their own theories more! And they condescendingly reject other theories that contradict theirs.  The result?  Incorrect conclusions due to selective facts.   Sadly, when I analyse what has happened in certain segments of Christendom, I see it happening too where certain leaders and scholars have huge filters.  Consequently, they filter out anything that does not fit their perspectives. I have come across many websites that major on criticising others for any doctrine or practise that does not fit theirs.    Some shoot down ministers like Reinhard Bonnke because he emphasizes on signs and wonders.  They are all out to find fault simply because they do not believe in the power of the Holy Spirit moving to heal people today.  They claim that Reinhard Bonnke is false because less than half the people who thought they were healed actually were! Even if it was half, it in an incredible number of healings!   Some others criticise Rick Warren and Bill Hybels because they are too pragmatic in growing the church.  Some criticise Billy Graham because he is willing to work with the Catholic Church.  Instead of being willing to learn more or to investigate deeper in an honest way, whether there is some truth in what others are saying or experiencing, they simply write others off. And they do this, they claim, to protect the church.  They have closed their minds to some things the Scriptures have to say and rejected it.   We should examine our own hearts to see if there is conceit.  Do we have an over-rated sense of self-importance?  We think we are always right, or almost always?  It is like those who think with self-confessed humility, “I am more than willing to admit I am wrong, just that I am never wrong!”   Do we have a rigid perspective in our hearts and write off everything else or anybody who has a different view?  Without seriously attempting to understand their point of view?  If so, perhaps we are having some conceit in our own hearts.  What then is needed?   Humility is needed   Humility is the antidote to conceit. Humility is the antidote to conceit.  Humility begins when we begin to realise that there is much we do not know nor understand.  Humility begins when we recognise we need God.  When we begin to humble ourselves, God begins to guide us. Psalms 25:9 (NIV) He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.   God will bless the humble.  James 4:6 (NIV)  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  Let us be humble and find the grace of God.   CHAFING   1 Tim 6:4b (NIV)  “They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions…”   Chafing means to be abrasive.  These contentious people had an unhealthy interest in anything that stirs up contention.  They pick fights over small matters.  They are constantly causing friction with others.  Like sandpaper rubbing against everybody.  What is the Bible’s view?  Proverbs 20:3 (NIV) It is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.   Why does this happen?  Because they believe they are right.  Contentious people refuse to accept different perspectives.  They go to great lengths to prove themselves right. Even if it means getting into an argument with others.  They are not that concerned whether it causes others to get upset, as long as they win their case. It is a really matter of, “If I feel good, that is good enough!”   Once in CSIRO, I was involved in a meeting where a number of scientists were discussing a certain project.  A certain scientist began to strongly put forth his view in a long-winded way.  And when anyone else tried to interject or interrupt, he simply raised his voice loudly and drowned the others out! No one could get a word in until he was finished! What low Emotional Quotient!   As God’s people we should not be abrasive, rubbing people the wrong way. It is important that we love people enough to desire to be sensitive to their feelings.  We may be right about something, but we should not step over people’s feelings to prove it!   Just because we are right does not make the means right! 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV) “ Love is patient, love is kind”. Ephesians 4:32 (NIV) “Be kind and compassionate to one another...”   The more we mature in Christ, the more we mature spiritually, we should love others more.  Loving more means to become more kind.  Part of being be kind is to be sensitive to other’s needs.  To be aware when we may be rubbing people the wrong way.  It means developing our EQ at least to a reasonable level so we do not be abrasive.  In fact, we should learn to smooth things over.  Those who do so are called peace-makers.  Matthew 5:9 (NIV) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.   Peacemakers are valued by God because they bring peace, reconciliation, rather than disputes, quarrels and division. Why not seek to be a peace-maker?   CORRUPTED   1 Tim 6:5a (NIV) “... and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth...” False teachers have been corrupted in their minds. They replace the real Truth with a shiny imitation they proclaim to be “truth” – which they peddle to others.   These false teachers have been corrupted in their minds.  They have been deceived.  Truth has been taken from them.  Because they lack truth, they make up their own truth.  They replace the real Truth with a shiny imitation they proclaim to be “truth” – which they peddle to others. They claim to have knowledge and wisdom.  Yet as stated in  James 3:15 (NIV) Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.    Their knowledge and wisdom has been distorted.  They have built up a huge storehouse of distorted information and perspectives.  The atheists have done that, surrounding themselves which distorted information so they can reinforce their stance.  They get caught in many idle notions and speculations. Colossians 2:18 (NIV) Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.    In the church in Colossae, there were false teachers who encouraged the worship of angels. Apparently, the archangel Michael was worshipped in Asia Minor even until AD 739. There are people who go into great details about the visions they saw or experienced. They get so caught up with such things which are but a minor aspect of the Christian faith. It could go something like this, “I saw an angel and his wings look like an eagle’s!  Perhaps eagles and angels are related.  Did you realise that both words have 5 letters, and they share almost all the same letters except for one?”   The Scriptures warn us that those who choose not to acknowledge God will eventually end up with a depraved or corrupt mind. Romans 1:28 (NIV) Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.    This happens because they lose all bearings to understanding Truth.  They just keep going around in circles.  If we want to find our bearings, we need to go to God.  Only God has the absolutes.  Only God has the Truth.  Only God can get us out of our confused state.  But we have to be humble to receive God’s truth.  Humility opens our hearts to learn.    Anne Rice, was a famous author for vampires stories. She has sold over 100 million books making her one of the most widely read authors.  She wrote Vampire Chronicles which included Interview with a Vampire, Queen of the Damned which were made into movies. She had a Catholic upbringing but totally rejected it in her late teens and became an atheist.  In 1998, she turned around and returned to Catholicism.  She then wrote 2 novels about the life of Christ.   Let us keep our hearts open, so that we may learn more of God’s truth.   COVETOUS   1 Tim 6:5b (NIV) “...and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” To the covetous teachers, godliness is a means to tap into the gullible religious desires of various followers.    The false teachers also had an added interest to make financial gain from their version of godliness.  To them, godliness is not about becoming more like God in character.  For it is not their genuine intent.  To the covetous teachers, godliness is a means to tap into the gullible religious desires of various followers.  Like some yogi that teach their philosophy of life and the thereafter and made millions.  Their concern is for personal gain.  Whether it be a name for themselves or financial gain.  Like Balaam in 2 Peter 2:15 (NIV)  They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.    Hence, they will fight furiously, they will contend furiously against anything that they perceive may reduce their personal gain. Thus, I am very cautious when I see a Christian leader make lots of money out of their ministry and keep it for themselves. God calls us to be sacrificial, to be giving for the cause of the Gospel.  When we give out of our hearts, we will receive due rewards in heaven.    CONCLUSIONS   Could we be conceited? So certain about our perspectives and readily rejecting other perspectives without honestly and seriously considering other viewpoints?   Could we be chafing others?  So strident in defense of our opinions, so aggressive in proving our views right that we ignore the feelings of others?   Could we possibly be corrupted? Could we possibly have been so focussed on our own version of truth that we have missed the real Truth?   Could we possibly be covetous? That we have allowed personal gain to muddy the waters of pursuing godliness?   Beware lest any of the above puts us on the path of being contemptibly contentious. Copyright©️2024 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

This article concludes the article series Relationships Commandments.  In the first article, we showed how the loving God fulfils the first 4 commandments in Exodus 20.  Today we will show how loving your neighbour fulfils the rest.  Jesus had tied these 2 together as the greatest commandments in Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV) 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”   In this article we will unpack the significance and implications of the 6 commandments on how we love our neighbours.   THE PLACE OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS   Before we proceed further to examine how the remaining 10 commandments relate to our loving others, it is important to explain the relevance of the 10 Commandments to us Christ-followers today. For the Mosaic Laws including the 10 Commandments are applicable only to the Jews. One reason is that the Mosaic Law is like a marriage covenant made between God and the Israelites. A careful study of Scripture reveals that.  Not to Gentiles, not to Christians.   Another reason is because the 10 commandments and the rest of the Mosaic Laws are an inseparable unit.  This unity is evident by noticing that the 10 commandments are expanded upon within the rest of the civil and ceremonial laws. We cannot adequately understand the 10 commandments without studying the rest of those laws.  The 10 commandments are like an executive summary of the Mosaic Law.  In other words, we cannot separate the 10 commandments from the rest of the Mosaic Laws.   The 10 commandments are like an executive summary of the Mosaic Law.  In other words, we cannot separate the 10 commandments from the rest of the Mosaic Laws, as some scholars have attempted to.  If we believe that the 10 commandments still apply, then so must the rest of the Mosaic Laws.   There are further reasons why we should not be obligated to the Mosaic Laws, including the 10 Commandments.  I explained that in much greater detail in my articles on Refuting Christian Sabbath Teachings Parts 1 and 2. The 10 commandments reveal eternal principles and standards behind these laws.   Since the Mosaic Laws do not apply to us, does this mean we can ignore the 10 commandments?  No. Because the 10 commandments reveal eternal principles and standards behind these laws.  A much fuller explanation of this concept is found in another article Covenant in the Bible (Part 6): How The Old Became New. God’s eternal principles never change. God is immutable, unchanging.  His principles never change. While his application of rules and regulations can change according to the context of the people He is dealing with and His purposes.   God’s eternal principles still apply to us today.  In fact, God’s eternal principles often set a higher standard than that required by the Mosaic Law. Matthew 5:21-22 (NIV) 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.   The difference is the Mosaic Law set a legalistic standard which no man can fully keep.  But God’s New Covenant provides grace to move towards a higher standard, motivated by love.  God helps us!  Further, the 10 commandments are convenient to refer to due to its compactness when attempting to express something about God’s standards.   We will examine the remaining 6 commandments and discover some of the eternal principle behind it to understand what God desires in our attitudes and actions – when we love our neighbours.   GIVE DUE HONOUR   Exodus 20:12 (NIV)  Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. To give that respect and honour to authority is a reflection of our respect for God’s authority.   The Scriptures teach that we should honour all those in positions of authority.  This includes institutional, governmental, spiritual and parental.  The principle is the same.  Authority is to be respected, honoured and obeyed.  Because to give that respect and honour to authority is a reflection of our respect for God’s authority. Romans 13:1 (NIV) Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Our respect for parental authority often sets the tone for our response to all other authorities.   Parents are given particular emphasis because it is the first authority we come under and a life-long one.  Our respect for parental authority often sets the tone for our response to all other authorities.  Further, our relationship with God is described most vividly, amongst several imageries, as that of a child to a father.  Hence, the importance of our respect towards our parents.   In fact, this is the first and only commandment that directly comes with a promised blessing. Ephesians 6:2 (NIV) “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise.  This is why parents should teach children from young, to respect and honour them.   To deliberately and blatantly dishonour our parents is deserving of death in the Mosaic Laws. Exodus 21:17 (NIV) “Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.” Also in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NIV).  If we still follow the 10 Commandments we should put to death any person who dishonours their parents.  That may mean a significant chunk of the population of Australia. Fortunately, we don’t follow the command but the principles behind it.    Scriptures teach that we should give honour to all in authority, even if they are doing a terrible job because we respect the office.  Indeed, the Scriptures teach that if they do a good job we should give them more honour.  1 Timothy 5:17 (NIV) The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.    This Scriptures highlights a number of key principles in giving extra honour.  Consider the quality of their work when giving extra honour.  Consider the nature of their responsibility, those who responsibility is greater or more influential, and consequently weightier on their shoulders, should be given more honour. Loving others involve consideration of their authority roles and giving them appropriate honour.    Loving others involve consideration of their authority roles and giving them appropriate honour.  For it shows our esteem of them.  It shows that we love them for who they are, for their responsibilities and for their faithfulness in carrying it out.  In Australia, our society is very egalitarian/classless and do not appreciate nor esteem roles of authority sufficiently.  The church can lead the way forward by showing by our example.    VALUE SANCTITY OF LIFE   Exodus 20:13 (NIV)  “You shall not murder.    You shall not rasah The Hebrew word used in rasah which can mean murder, slay or kill.  However, in the context of the 10 Commandments, most scholars agree that it is best translated as murder.  Rather than the too-general “kill” as used by KJV.  That is why most newer translations, including the NKJV uses “murder”. God clearly differentiates between accidentally killing someone, negligently killing someone and deliberately killing someone.    But what does rasah actually mean? The actual scope of this word and hence commandment has to be understood within the context of God’s commands in the Mosaic Law.  Without the rest of the Mosaic Law we would not understand the scope of this commandment.  Scriptures shows that God clearly differentiates between accidentally killing someone, negligently killing someone and deliberately killing someone.  The last is today known as murder while the other 2 are known as manslaughter.   God deals with murder, the deliberate intent to take a life because of malice, with the most severe penalty. Exodus 21:14 (NIV) But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.  (see also Exodus 21:12, 14-17, Numbers 35:20-21).    God distinguishes that from accidentally taking a life where protection is offered. Exodus 21:13 (NIV) However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate.  (see Num 35:22-25).   On the other hand, if death is caused by negligence then the person is fully responsible and also faces he most severe punishment.  Exodus 21:29 (NIV) If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death.    The difference between all the above is motive.  Murder is due to malice.  Negligence is due to “I don’t care if it hurts anyone.” Accidental is due to not having reasonable knowledge. Those of us who have some familiarity with the Commonwealth law can immediately see the same principles behind our laws.  For much of our laws were based on Judeo-Christian concepts in the past. There are other forms of killing which are legitimate, such as during war or in carrying out the death penalty, but I will not go into the intricacies of these today.   What is the true intent behind this commandment?   You shall value life   It is about the sanctity of life.  Scriptures teach that human life is valuable.  For life is given by God. Man should not take matters into his own hands to take away life. Human life is incredibly valuable not because of our inherent value but because of the value God places on human life. Psalms 8:4 - 6 (NIV) 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:   Abortion is choice for the mother, but leaves no choice for a helpless human life.   Nowadays, people are often valued in economic terms.  Actually, that de-values human life into dollars and cents.  Scripture lays the foundation of understanding that if we love others, we will value their right to life. We will not treat their life lightly but give it due respect. That is why God considers abortion a blatant disregard for human life if it is done in order to provide choice, avoid responsibility or embarrassment for the mother, in contrast to saving a mother’s life.  That is why abortion falls under “you shall not rasah”. Abortion is choice for the mother, but leaves no choice for a helpless human life.   A professor at the UCLA Medical School asked his students this question: "Here is the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. The second had died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB. The mother is pregnant. The parents are willing to have an abortion if you decide they should. What do you think?" Most of the students decided on abortion. "Congratulations," said the professor. "You have just murdered Beethoven!"   Nothing is so final as murder, even when it is done very early in a life.  Terence Patterson   Chances of your being killed by terrorists overseas: 1 in 650,000  Chances of your being aborted if you are in the womb of an American woman: 1 in 3.3. -- What Are the Chances? by Bernard Siskin (Crown, 1989); U.S. Today, 1/26/89.  Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 4.   Let us value human life.   RESPECT BIBLICAL RELATIONSHIPS   Exodus 20:14 (NIV)  “You shall not commit adultery.   Why did the commandment not state, “You shall not commit sexual immorality?” After all, adultery is a sexual sin??  There is a difference!  What is the nature of adultery? It is the breaking of a covenant between a husband and a wife to maintain faithfulness to one another.  Adultery damages the relationship between a husband and wife.  It also damages the family.  So is this commandment about sexual sin?  It is, but more, it is about respecting relationships that are important to God.   If we love our neighbour, we will not damage their marriage relationship.  And for the same reason, we will not damage their relationships even with others.  Whether it be with family, friends or colleagues. Instead, we will respect it and seek to nurture healthy relationships.   Does this mean we respect and nurture all kinds of relationships?  No.  The Scriptures is clear that there are certain kinds of relationships that God is not pleased with.  Adulterous relationships, sexually immoral relationships, incestuous relationship, homosexual relationships, paedophilic relationships, bestiality (man and animal).  Any kind of unnatural relationships, we cannot condone. We are to respect any relationship which falls within what the Scriptures condone.    We are to respect any relationship which falls within what the Scriptures condone.  That is why I said “biblical relationships” to mean relationships acceptable to God.  In Hope Church, we support all the married couples and families.  Their marriages are important.  Their relationships with their families are important.  That is why in our church, we do all we can to offer support, whether through spiritual or practical means.  Because we respect and value all biblical relationships.   RESPECT OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY   Exodus 20:15, 17 (NIV) 15 “You shall not steal. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”   This commandment is about respecting the property of others. Hence, we should not rob someone of what is theirs. When someone is robbed it hurts them.  Hence if we truly love others, we will never do that to them. Stealing anything hurts the human spirit and brings separation between God and ourselves.  For stealing is against God’s very nature.   This Commandment applies to even the smallest things. Stealing anything hurts the human spirit and brings separation between God and ourselves. For stealing is against God’s very nature. John 10:10 (NIV) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  God’s way is to give rather than take!   We should not even covet someone else’s property. To covet is to desire to have the possessions of others. It goes beyond simply admiring someone else’s possessions or thinking, “I’d like to have one of those”.   Covetousness springs from a selfish nature. Because a man is selfish, he covets. Because he covets, he steals, lies, commits adultery, murders and disregards others. Jesus said in Luke 12:15 (NIV) "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consist not in the abundance of the things which he possesses"    Sometimes, we may spend our lives comparing ourselves to others as we covet what they have. Yet, God knows that possessions never make anyone happy of long. Only God can supply all our needs, true contentment is found only in Him.  Let us maintain our contentment in God who will bring eternal rewards, rather than covet and steal from others which brings no rewards but judgment.   VALUE OTHER’S REPUTATION   Exodus 20:16 (NIV)  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.   To give false testimony is to tell untruths, lies about someone else. To do so is to injure the reputation of someone. To do so is to destroy someone’s good name is as if the person has been attacked maliciously.  It can be a very painful experience.  It is as if we have plunged a dagger in the person’s heart.   Colossians 3:8 (NIV) But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.    Slander is saying unkind, malicious things about others.  Usually it is distorted truths, half-lies.  Slander is like attempting murder with words.  Gossip is like negligently killing someone.   Gossip too is sin because it is passing on unpleasant information about others, without care about their reputation. Passing on to people who cannot help at all.  Gossip is like negligently killing someone. If we love others, we would respect their reputation and not tarnish it.  In God’s family, we must not have slander and gossip.  Instead let us speak words of affirmation, life, encouragement and seek to build others up in the Lord!  Church would be a safe place.   CONCLUSION   Let us love our neighbours.  Give them due honour.  Value the sanctity of their life.  Respect their relationships that are acceptable to God.  Value their property and their reputation. Copyright©️2024 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.