Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Do You Avoid Talking About Sin? | New Testament | 1 Timothy 1

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

Does talking about your own sin make you uncomfortable? Do you confess your sin to God? Do you really believe God could love a sinner? In today's episode, Tanya begins our time in 1 Timothy 1 discussing why you shouldn't be scared to talk about sin. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Timothy 1

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. I wonder if any of you are afraid of anything. This summer, I did something I've never done before. I talked about doing it for a while, but the reality was that when it came down to it, I was too scared. Even this summer, I was looking for excuses at the last minute. The girls had just had surgery. I should stay home with them. But no, Eric said the girls are fine.

You should go. This big thing, at least to me, that I was wanting but so afraid to do, was an overnight backpacking trip in the mountains, the kind where you pack in all your food and pack out all your toilet paper, filter your water, sleep in a tent, hang up your food in a bare canister in a tree at night, sleep at elevation, hike a few mountain passes, and have no cell service or Wi-Fi. It was amazing. It was the most beautiful mountain scenery I have ever witnessed. It was hard. I had moments each day that I thought my backpack plus me were not going to make it over the pass. Sometimes I was actually really scared.

When the wind on the top of the past was so strong, I had to use my poles to stay upright. Or when I wasn't feeling well one night and we still had to set up camp. But Brayden, my 19-year-old hiking partner, he didn't seem to be bothered by any of it. He was cool as a cucumber the whole time. Each night, when it was beginning to get dark, I would start to make my way over to the tent, so I would be nice and tucked into my sleeping bag before the thickness of the night settled over the mountains. Braden was the only reason I stayed up.

He wanted to see the stars. The stars, yes, of course. I swallowed my survival instincts the second night to see what he was waiting up for. And you know what? The stars truly do shine brighter the darker the night. It's amazing how they dazzle when there is no other light to compete with their glory.

And the way my brain works is I want, I want everyone to see those stars. I want to use words that show you what they were like so you can experience them too. I want to recreate that experience myself. I want to remember that it was worth it. But the way reality works is that it was hard to get there. I was out of my comfort zone. It was non-intuitive for me. It was even kind of frightening. I think the way our brains work is that we want to believe a Christian mythology that we can have what God gives without the uncomfortable, non-intuitive parts. We can preach a gospel that God created us, God saves us, and God gives us eternal life. But that gospel is like describing a night sky that someone will never see unless they trek into the wilderness. Yes, those things are true, but God is more.

He is God who calls us into a relationship with him. I love the way Paul talks about his relationship with God in First Timothy. He's writing to his good friend, Timothy, a guy that he's even gone through some relationship highs and lows with, which has ultimately made the relationship even stronger. Timothy is stationed in Ephesus, and Paul wants to make sure that Timothy continues to teach the true gospel, not allowing any room for myths or speculations that would distract them.

Paul wants them to know, God is a God who calls them to be in relationship with him and receive all the heartache that comes from knowing their sin and all the joy that comes from receiving his grace that comes with it. In 1 Timothy 115, I think Paul says one of the most humble things. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost, but I receive mercy for this reason,

that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Now, who in their right mind disqualifies themselves from their message like this? Hey, I'm the worst sinner you know. You should listen to what I say about how to follow Jesus. Well, probably the one who knows that the grace of God shines brightest on the darkest of nights. The one who knows that as we see our sin for what it is, the patience and mercy of Jesus Christ

is displayed more fully in us and through us. doesn't have to be scared to talk about his sin. He doesn't have to be scared to talk about it to the people who read this letter because he has a secure relationship with the one who covered his sin. He doesn't have to be afraid to have people point out his sin because he knows he can take it to his friend Jesus. He doesn't have to be scared to take it to his friend Jesus because he knows Jesus wants to heal and restore him. Do you have the kind of relationship with Jesus that makes you comfortable talking about sin? Here are some questions you can ask yourself.

1. Are you able to recognize that you're a sinner? 2. Are you growing in your ability to recognize your sin as sin? 3. Are you able to have other people help you see sin, even if it means you need to ask for forgiveness or help? And 4. Are you growing in your assurance that God loves you, even though you are a sinner? The people that I know that have been following Jesus for a while are the most grieved and the most joyful people I know. And what I mean by that is that they're so grieved when they sin that they want to do something about it. That might mean talking to God or talking to someone they hurt or asking for help to do things differently the next time. But the grief

ends there and joy fills this space that the enemy wants to fill with shame because they know that God forgives them and God loves them and they keep moving forward. Now sometimes here on the pot, we tell you a verse or recommend a passage of scripture that you can go to for further reflection. But sin is one of those things that is so hard to talk about. I want to actually read you the part of Psalms that you can use to pray silently or aloud, even when you don't have the words. No worries if you're driving, you're busy at work. I'm just going to read the words of this Psalm 51, and you can pray silently, inserting yourself into the scripture if you're comfortable. Have mercy on me, oh God.

According to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sin, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words, and blameless in your judgment. behold I was brought forth in iniquity and incended my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be cleaner than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you

have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities, creating me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltness, O God. Oh God of my salvation. And my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

Those words are from Psalm 51, 1 through 14.