I Timothy 4:12 “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
Introduction: Man is comprised of a body, soul, and spirit. God created man a tripart being to love God and to enjoy life. Man was made for God, and the spirit of man was made to commune with God. However, because Adam fell, the spirit of man can do good things or bad things, depending on how much you feed it. The bible says of man’s spirit that it can be haughty, puffed up, unloving, ungraceful, unruled, loud, meek, wise, quiet, fervent, excellent, ruled, etc.
Our spirt is essentially who we are, what come out in conversations, in situations, in reactions, etc. As believers, we need to always check our spirit to make sure that it is in the right condition. The condition that God desires for it to be in. When our spirit is the way God wants it to be, we can be a good example of the believers.
We are a good example of the believers when we:
I. Have a Right spirit- Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spiritwithin me.” After being confronted by Nathan the prophet, David realized that what he had done was wrong and it was connected to not having a right spirit. David ask’s God to RENEW a right spirit, as it was before, however, at this time, what was wrong with David’s spirit.
- David’s spirit was wrong at this time. In vs 2 it had iniquity, in vs 3 transgressions, and sin. In vs 6 it had lies, in vs 7 it was unclean. All of these combined resulted in not having a right spirit.
- Unruled Spirit– When we see a woman, lust after her, and commit adultery with her. Then to cover it up, you set up your own plan to deceive the man to lay with his wife. When that doesn’t work, you kill the husband and get rid of him. These are the red flags we see in David.
- Solution– The righteousness of Christ comes out because we are yielded to God. Romans 6:13 & 16 we need to be yielded to God in order to have a right spirit. This is a daily thing.
- I Corinthians 2:11 “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? You and I can know the spirit on a man. We can also know if our own spirit is right. In order to be an example, it has to be right.
II. Have a Ruled spirit– Proverbs 25:28 “He that hath no rule over his ownspirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” When the walls of a city are broken down, anything and everything can come in. The city has no defense.
- What do other people see in us?
- Proverbs 16:32 “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city”. A person that rules his spirit is better than one who takes a city.
- Unruled Spirit– Emotional rollercoaster, fearful, making bad decisions, being hasty, being anxious, over reactions, all of these are a consequence of an unruled spirit.
- If you get angry, become proud, act selfishly, would others with words, give in to lust, are unkind, thinks or acts irrational, these are consequences of an unruled spirit.
- Solution- We have to build those walls of defense. Admit where we are wrong, put off the bad and replace it with good, don’t make excuses to change. Whatever the problem is that we have, find the answers in the Bible so that it can be corrected.
III. Have a Meek spirit– I Peter 3:4 “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Meek-mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated- submissive obedience to God. Quiet- still, being in a state of rest, not moving, free from alarm or disturbance. This is not a woman who is weak, timid, or soft-spoken.
- Unruled Spirit– Proverbs 7:11 “She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house”. Lost women don’t have a meek and quiet spirit. They’re doing things that are contrary to God. This strange woman is not soft, gentle, not still, and in a state of rest, vs 19 can’t wait for her husband at home.
- Solution– Jesus- had a meek and lowly spirit. Had a submissive obedience to God.
- Proverbs 31- there is a meek and quiet woman who is a good example.
- Abigail- I Samuel 25:3, 18-19, 28. This woman had a submissive obedience to God. She wasn’t moved by the situation because she was trusting in God.
IV. Have a Humble spirit- Proverbs 16:19 “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud”. Here we see the contrast between a humble spirit and the proud person (arrogant, haughty, supercilious).
- Humble- low, opposed to high or great, not magnificent. Opposite of a Haughty spirit. Esteem others better than themselves.
- Unruled Spirit– Having an unruled spirit in regards to being humble is a False humility like the pharisees. It is pretentious, and only for a show, but what is inside is bad.
- Solution- I Peter 5:5 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble”.
Conclusion: As we have seen, it’s important to have the right spirit so that when we go through life dealing with different situations, our reactions will be those that please God.