Good morning. Here's one
of those uh-oh scriptures. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet
does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is
worthless. If you think you have arrived, you usually do not keep it to yourself.
You look down on others, and when you do, something bad comes out of your mouth
towards them. You definitely want to share their faults with everyone else. You
need to put action behind your words. It says that he deceives his own heart,
not the other way around. His heart knows he is not right with God. The more he
puts down others, the more his heart believes the untruth. How can you know
that you are walking the walk and not just talking the talk? This is pure and
undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and
widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. If the
church took care of the widows and orphans, there would be no need for the
government to do so. In the sight of the world, widows and orphans are on the
bottom of the totem pole. In the church's sight, they should be at the top
instead of the bottom. If you are faithful in what is considered little things,
you will be faithful in great things. You will be walking in pure and undefiled
religion in the sight of God. Father thank You that the reader bridles his/her
tongue, and does not deceive his/her heart. He/she practices pure and undefiled
religion in the sight of his/her God and Father.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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