Shipwrecked Faith

Written by Gail Rodgers

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“Shipwrecked Faith”! The words painted a picture in my mind as they jumped out at me from the pages of 1 Timothy 1. These are drastic words!

Here Paul was instructing young Timothy in his leadership role in the church. He was warning him to guard against false teachers who promote controversies rather than God’s work.

Questions about faith? Bring your doubts
Why would I need faith?: Find some answers

He very clearly tells this young leader to teach love … which flows from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. Twice he warns that wandering from these things will lead to meaningless talk and eventually to shipwrecked faith.

It’s a pretty simple formula. Keep a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith and love will flow from you. Reject these things and you are in danger of shipwrecking your faith.

I realized I had in front of me an excellent check point for my faith walk with Jesus.

Whenever we feel our faith wavering or weak, or when we recognize a wandering in our hearts that could take us away from our God, we can use these verses as a checkpoint to bring us back and keep us from the dangerous zone of “ship wrecked faith”.

1. Keep a pure heart. Ask yourself if there is any area in your heart where impurity is creeping in? It’s subtle. Ponder a few questions:

* Are my motives pure in the relationships I put my time into?
* What kind of a diet do the movies and TV shows I watch give me?
* Do my thoughts reflect areas where I need to ask for God’s help?
* Do words come from my lips that need checking?
* Am I willing to ask God for a pure heart?

2. Keep a good conscience.

* Are there areas in my life that cause me to feel guilty?
* Am I willing to ask for God’s forgiveness and help in them?
* When something bothers my conscience do I push it down or examine it and go to God for strength?
* Am I willing to allow God to touch my conscience so I can keep short accounts and draw nearer to Him?

3. Keep a sincere faith.

* Is my faith a Sunday kind of faith or a panic button reserved for trouble?
* Is my faith the centre of my life?
* Am I willing to put the time and effort into growing my faith so it is the foundation of all of my life?

Often we settle for a “wandering faith” knowing that the pull of our lives is subtly drawing us away from God. Yet the end of that pull is not where we want to go.

It draws us away from the mercy and grace of our Lord and toward controversies and doubts.

Paul encourages Timothy to fight the good fight of faith and to be on guard for his faith.

Do you need to fight for your faith today and make some changes in your own heart? Shipwrecks don’t get to where they were headed but end up on the rocks.

God’s plans for you are good. His peace is there for the taking. Nothing is worth it that draws you away from Him and your faith. Don’t let the subtle erosion of your heart lead you to where you don’t want to go.

Father God,
How wonderful that You give us check points to guard our faith and to safeguard our hearts. The way of the world is subtle. Help me to daily mind my heart so that I keep purity and good conscience in focus. Thank you that You never wag Your finger at me but lovingly call my name to draw near to You. May I keep short accounts with You and may my heart be drawn to times in prayer and in Your word so that my faith may remain secure and strong. Thank you that You love me and desire only the very best for me. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Questions: How can we keep a pure heart and a good conscience? Do you have areas in your life that cause you to feel guilty?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

Tags: Chat, conscience, doubts, faith, forgiveness, gail rodgers, guilty, paul, pure heart, shipwrecked, Timothy

4 Responses to “Shipwrecked Faith”

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Robin says:

August 16, 2010 at 6:36 am

What a good word! All the devotionals from this site touch my heart and soul. The Lord is SO good. Thank You Oh God for the reminder and the truth in these words. Above all else oh Lord, keep us close, SO close to Your heart! Have access to our hearts and always reveal where we need to draw nigh!
Lynn Mosher says:

August 15, 2010 at 6:08 pm

Hey, Gail! Great post. Thank you for the great points and questions that we can use as points to ponder as we give ourselves a faith checkup. Blessings to you!
Cathy says:

August 13, 2010 at 3:48 pm

Good imagery in this devotional of shipwrecking our faith. Recently I have been struggling with this very thing. Because I over analyze everything, I have been having questions about my faith and even critical in my mind of some of the practices I see other Christians do to each other. God has been speaking to my heart to just focus on my relationship with him and my love for him and don’t worry about all of the other things. I don’t ever want to “shipwreck my faith”.
Susan says:

August 13, 2010 at 7:21 am

Thanks so much Gail for this rich devotional. It completely captured my circumstance as I have noted an “erosion” in my faith over the past five weeks. My heart has been growing cold and I have been struggling in my prayer life as well as in my times in God’s Word. My faith is shipwrecked. I have confessed my sin to God this morning and will review the inventory of my heart, my conscience and my faith, confessing and repenting and seeking God. I know in my heart of hearts that I don’t want to follow any path that God is not leading me down. And a sadness has crept into my soul. I am missing the intimacy I once shared with God not so long ago. I am becoming more and more aware that we DO need to actively GUARD our faith as it is a precious gift. I praise God for reaching out to me in your devotional. What a merciful and loving Father He is.