Perilous times… times
that are troublesome, dangerous and even hard to bear. These are the times we are living in today!
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 This know also, that
in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of
those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
~ Lovers of their own
self: This speaks of vanity, conceit and
selfishness. It is define by having a
mind-set of thinking of one's self more highly than one ought. This is often
expressed by how one talks, dresses and acts.
Sometimes, I think a person can possess these characteristics without
even being aware of all that it involves completely. As Christians, we are in
the world but not of it. So, we should
talk, act and dress DIFFERENTLY than the world.
I could really go on a tangent here about dressing becomingly and
modestly. I have noticed that women seem
to struggle with this more than men. In
a society that tells us we need to look flawless and beautiful, it influences
women to try to hide the imperfections and "beautify"
themselves. God created you to be
beautiful the way you are… you don't have to "beautify"
yourselves. No, you may not look perfect
according to the world's standards. But,
we should measure ourselves against the Word of God & His standards, not
the world's.
~ Covetous: In this verse this translates to "loving
money". This old adage says,
"Money can't buy happiness".
True happiness and joy comes from God.
Money can buy a lot of things and seemingly takes you a lot of places,
but, it will not be a long-lasting comfort and happiness. The love of money is the root of all kinds
evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)
~ Boasters: A boaster is someone who has excessive pride
in themselves and brag and exaggerates about themselves and their own
accomplishments. The Greek Lexicon
defines a boaster as "an empty pretender".
~ Proud: Most of us know what it means to be
proud. A proud person thinks of
themselves as above other's and show themselves to be so. They can go to the extent of despising others
and even treating them with contempt, worthlessness or disrespect. They can also have a haughty or snobbish
attitude.
~ Blasphemers: Blasphemers are known for speaking evil,
slanderous, reproachful, railing, abusive things to or about others with the
intent to hurt, harm or discredit them.
Sometimes they do these things to make themselves look better and gain
fame or rapport with someone else.
~ Disobedient to
parents: Disobedient is pretty
self-explanatory. But, some synonyms are
haughty, rebellious, stubborn, unyielding, not persuaded and not compliant.
~ Unthankful: This is another one that is
self-explanatory. But, it is being
ungrateful, thoughtless, inappreciative and careless.
~ Unholy: Being unholy can cover a wide spectrum of
things. It is being corrupt or evil in
all manner of conversation or actions.
It is being dishonest and deceitful.
It involves being unrighteous and going against the guidelines and
principles in the Word of God for our lives.
~ Without natural
affection: The Greek Lexicon defines
this as unsociable, unloving and inhuman.
Loving others is not always easy, but it is a commandment given to us by
Jesus. "Love one another as I have
loved you". This means to love
unconditionally. All souls matter and
deserve to know the love of God… even through us.
~ Trucebreakers: The Greek Lexicon defines this are
implacable. Which means uncompromising,
ruthless, unforgiving, remorseless and resentful. More often than not, these are the underlying
things that cause problems in friendships and marriages. And, it can wreak havoc in a church.
~ False accusers: This is when someone is prone to slander and
accuse falsely. I found it interesting
in the Greek Lexicon it mentioned that metaphorically it is applied to a person
who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or
to side with him.
~ Incontinent: This
pertains to someone who is without self-control and some-what wayward. They can be unconstrained in the way they act
and speak. They can also tend to cause trouble
and be out-of-line.
~ Fierce: This describes someone who is not tame. They are unruly, harsh, angry and behave just
downright awfully.
~ Despisers of those
that are good: These are the ones that
are opposed to goodness and good people.
They try to stand in the way or hinder those that are trying their best
to be the godly person God is calling them to be. They will act against or provide resistant
to them. Sometimes they can even go to
the point of falsely accusing or fabricating things to derail someone else.
~ Traitors: In others words, this refers to those who
backstab, plot against someone else or collaborate against someone else. They will act as friend to your face, but
behind your back it is a whole other story.
They have a façade of acting one
way in front of certain people but they act another way in front of others.
~ Heady: Heady people are headstrong, quarrelsome and
sometimes arrogant. They don't really
take time to think before they act or speak.
The Greek Lexicon define it as "to fall forwards". Which reminds me of the scripture Proverbs
16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a
fall."
~ High-minded: Being high-minded is to be puffed up with
haughtiness or pride. It can also be
used to describe when someone puts up a smokescreen and obscures the view of
others, preventing them from seeing who they really are when no one else is
around. They over-compensate by
excessively building themselves up.
~ Lovers of pleasure
more that lovers of God: This is loving
the thrill and satisfaction (though it is temporary) that the world gives and
provides over being a lover of God and the things of God. Priorities become distorted and the things
and friends of this world become more important to a person than pleasing God
and following His Word.
~ Having a form or
godliness but denying the power thereof:
This can be a tough one, at times, to pinpoint. Because it involves someone putting up a
façade of holiness. They can look, act
and speak like they are righteous and holy, but underneath it all they are
not. And, in doing so, they are
unknowingly depriving themselves of so much spiritually. They are, in fact, denying themselves the
very power of God to be effectively working in their lives.
The final admonishment
of these scriptures says, "from such turn away." We are advised to turn ourselves away from or
avoid these things. Now, you can avoid
someone who has any of these characteristics without be rude or
judgmental. You can still
unconditionally love and be kind to someone even if they are not lining up with
God's Word. How? Look throughout the New Testament in the Four
Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), Jesus did it all the time! We are in this world, but not of it. Sure we have to exist in this world and put
up with and bear through some things.
But that doesn't define who we are!
My advice is to pray and search His Word… OFTEN… for answers. Life is not easy. Dealing with difficult and toxic people is
not easy. But, it is necessary if we are
going to do what is says in Jude 1:20-23, "But ye, beloved, building up
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with
fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the
flesh." In observing others, I have
realized that more often than not, people don't even realize to what extent
these characteristics control them. It
is not the people that we hate or despise.
It is what they have allowed clothed themselves in. It is the cloak of deception that the devil
has placed on them. God has had
compassion and mercy on you. Don't you
think they deserve they same opportunity?
As ambassadors of Him, we are to think, act & speak in a way that is
pleasing and acceptable to Him. In order
to do this, we must build ourselves up spiritually through prayer. And, not just simple little prayers, but
prayers full of the power of Holy Ghost.
Praying in the Spirit is essential when it comes to breaking the chains
of these characteristics that bind ourselves and others. Keep yourself focused on God and realize the
unfathomable love He has for us… while we were yet sinners, He died for us!
These are perilous,
dangerous and desperate times we live in… it requires desperate measures on our
part. It is time for us, the people of
God, to step it up and making sure we are in-line with God and His Word so that
we can help those that needing His power in their lives.
