1 Timothy 6:11-16

Fleeing evil is a good plan. However, by itself, it is an incomplete plan and will lead to disaster. Paul told Timothy to flee from all the many characteristics of false preachers and troublemakers in the church. That meant he should flee from the love of money, personal conceit, conflict and personal strife, envy and all manner of other unrighteous actions, activities, and emotions.

Fleeing from personal temptation is worthless if we do not remember that wickedness tempts us at the point of our personal innermost desires. Timothy, like all human beings had many desires and he could no more flee from all of them than he could outrun himself. That is not what Paul was telling him to do; Paul was telling him to develop an inner awareness of himself and avoid situations and thought processes that made him extra vulnerable to temptation.

Avoiding those things that tempt us is not enough to allow us to live righteous; we must also work the process of changing our value system and what we desire. God’s great gift of mercy is not limited to eternal life, it includes the possibility of a changed and new life right here and right now. However just as Christ did not save us against our will, he will not change us against our will either. When we become a Christian, that is only the first step to becoming a godly person. God will help us, and his Holy Spirit will guide us, but we must do much of the work ourselves. Paul told Timothy, that if he wanted to take hold of the eternal life to which he was called, he would have to actively pursue the characteristics of a righteous person.

Paul did not give Timothy a comprehensive list, he gave him the basics. Righteous people are characterized by faith and faithfulness. When life gets hard they endure, and even while fighting for what is right they exhibit a gentleness that is Christlike. Fleeing evil works, but only when it is combined by pursuing godliness.