This Lord’s Day we conclude our expository preaching through 1 Timothy. We’ll use these blessed warnings to pray for ourselves:

How to lose your faith in 13 easy Missteps, from 1 Timothy

1. Believe that the Bible can be used to excuse ungodly living – “Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions . . .” 1:6-11

2. Twist Scripture to promote your own authority and agenda – “by rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 1:19b-20
3. Abandon the male and female roles that God instituted in Creation – “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling . . . yet she will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” 2:8-15
4. Appoint a man to elder who doesn’t know how to sacrifice his life for his family, leading the church away from godliness – “He must care for his own household well . . . for if someone does not know how to care for his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” 3:4-5
5. Believe that self-denial of God-ordained pleasure is the same thing as godliness – “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 4:1-5
6. Believe that believing the right things without applying them is godliness – “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 4:16
7. When your spouse dies, spend more time in Vegas than on your knees – “She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.” 5:5
8. Provide for no one except yourself – “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 5:8
9. For young women, take your role models from the magazine racks rather than from godly women in the church – “for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry [an unbeliever] and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.” 5:11-13
10. Relate to people in competitive, arrogant ways and Believe that being wealthy is proof that you are godly – “. . . he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” 6:4-5
11. Live a restless, busy life pursuing wealth, feeling discontent with what you have and Believe that money is a separate issue from godliness – “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 6:9-10
12. Profess that you have special inside knowledge of people, life, truth, and that you are always right – “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.” 6:20-21
13. Believe that you don’t need grace to you or going with you – “To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord . . . Grace be with you.” 1:2; 6:21b