Family Responsibilities – 1 Timothy 5:8

Family Responsibilities – 1 Timothy 5:8

1 Timothy 5:8 – “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

God’s Word uses the strongest language possible to command Christians everywhere to earn wages through honest labor and provide for the financial needs of their household.  The Scriptures say that this sin makes a Christian “worse than an unbeliever;” only one other sin in the Bible earns such a strong condemnation (incest, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:1).  Nevertheless, today many Christians act as if this were optional, as if there were nothing serious about a man refusing to provide for his family’s needs.

Worse, we meet pastors all over the world who insist that they are “living by faith” in disobedience to this command, refusing to obtain secular employment because they prefer to be in “full-time ministry.”  True faith would never lead a person to disobey God’s commands (see James 2:14-26).  Ironically, the same people who tell us they disavowed secular employment to “live by faith” go around asking any Westerner they meet to support them financially.  If they are living by faith, it seems contradictory that they need to ask Westerners for money.  This seems no more spiritual than asking an employer for a well-deserved salary.  “Full-time ministry” is easier because there is no work schedule, no boss checking our productivity, no accountability for how we use our time.  We feel said when we hear about their children living in deprivation, but the problems sometimes seen self-imposed.  The Bible tells us what to do about this.

Many churches now teach seminars on dating and marriage, in which they focus on the amusing differences between men and women, “building trust” in the relationship, the importance of “submission” (whatever the church imagines that to mean), and even inappropriate teachings on sexual intimacy.  Yet they rarely include any mention of the basic duty to earn a living and provide for one’s family and needy relatives (those who are elderly or disabled).  This is a Christian duty, part of the Christian life.  God’s Word is explicit about this, but too few Christians read His Word and they remain ignorant of His commands.  Instead, they merely follow what they see other Christians around them doing.

This is not to say Christians should be greedy or should neglect their families in their pursuit of riches (see Hebrews 13:4-6).  Greed or chasing wealth is not the same as earning a basic living to provide for your family adequately.

The command to care for one’s family does not apply to men alone.  “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”  (1 Timothy 5:4)  We please our Lord when we practice responsibility and provide for the needs of our families.

Christian parents should y to work enough so that their earnings are sufficient to build some savings for their children.  “After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.” (2 Corinthians 12:14).  This pleases the Lord.  In fact, the Bible says that we should save up for their grandchildren as well: “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children.”  (Proverbs 13:22).  Of course, the responsibility is reciprocal: grown children have a spiritual duty to provide for elderly parents who can no longer work to support themselves (see Matthew 15:3-6).

“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”  (1 Timothy 5:8, King James Version)