1 Timothy 1:5,6,19 (NLT)

5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.

6 But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.

19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.

The North Star is a very bright and very large star that sailors can use for natural navigation.  Even though the earth is constantly spinning on its axis, this star’s position doesn’t change, which is why it’s so reliable.  It always points True North.

Just like the earth is spinning, our world is changing all the time too, and so many things are clamouring for our attention.  We have so many decisions to make, and so many ways we can respond to what is happening around us and to the people around us.  If we are not careful, we’ll start focussing on things that are not actually important – and miss the faith life we are supposed to be living.  Like a ship in the vast ocean, we can be pulled off course and start sailing in the wrong direction.  Or worse, sail into shallow waters and get smashed against sharp rocks, which can cause us great harm, shipwrecking our faith.  That is why we need a North Star, we need truth in front of our eyes, to keep us on course. 

I remember reading 1 Timothy 1:5 once and realised what a profound scripture it was.  I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “This is a North Star for your life.”  Ever since then, when I find myself veering into shallow waters, the Holy Spirit will bring this scripture to my remembrance.  This gives me the opportunity to think about whether I am filled with “love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith,” and I ask God to help me reset my course so that, by His grace, I can sail in the right direction again.

Let’s briefly look at the three elements of this scripture:

Love from a pure heart

When I find myself drifting, love is the very first navigational point to help correct my course.  Remembering that Jesus was willing to lay down His life for me, has a way of deflating me of any hot air that I may be building up.  God is crystal clear about His desire for us to passionately love Him with all our hearts, minds and strength, and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.  He is love.  Since I have been able to more fully receive His amazing sacrificial love for me, and make it my own, refusing to love others is not an option anymore.  Love is not necessarily a gooey feeling or butterflies.  Rather, it is an action which often includes praying for others, or choosing to forgive, release and bless those who have injured me or the ones I love.  If I have allowed my love for my King or for others to get watered down through distraction, self-centredness or anything else, then it’s time to ask the Holy Spirit to help me adjust my course to True North again.  The condition of my heart is important to God.  I cannot truly love if I have only selfish motives hiding within me.  So I ask God to please remove the impurity and help me to love.

A clear conscience

It is impossible to stay on course with a guilty conscience.  That’s because guilt robs us of our confidence to enter the presence of God, with our eyes on Him.  I cannot freely love if I have a guilty conscience because guilt causes me to focus on myself.  Guilt is like a thick, black cloud blocking your view of the North Star.  The Word of God reveals to us that our consciences are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus to make us clean (Hebrews 10:22-23).  We enter God’s presence through His blood, and no other way.  Because of the blood, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our wrongdoing and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, when we turn to Him (1 John 1:9), and we must “cling to this faith in Christ.”  I used to feel guilty about everything – guilt was my middle name – until God taught me that I needed to bring my conscience in line with His Word.  But here is an important caution:  if you consistently and deliberately violate your conscience – choosing to do wrong when you know what is right according to the Word – you can be pulled so far off course and so far away from the truth that you shipwreck your faith.  Paul tells us to keep our consciences clear.  A guilty conscience is like a beacon on a lighthouse, warning you that you are sailing in dangerous waters:  sort it out!  On the other hand, when you know you have been walking in love and obedience, your conscience is a powerful thing because it enables you to live before God with confidence.  It clears up those dark skies and brings a lightness to your heart.

Genuine faith

This is another navigational point.  Jesus detests hypocrisy!  It is really bad when we try to convince others of how spiritual we are through what we do in front of them, but it is even worse when we are trying to convince ourselves.  Genuine faith is based on what Christ has done.  This is our True North.  When we focus on our own efforts to be worthy before God, working and striving to be enough for Him or putting on a show for others, we are sailing off course and in shallow waters.  Oh, it’s such a trap!  True faith comes from the ability to fall on our knees and really receive what Christ has done on our behalf.  It causes hypocrisy to fall off you like wet rags to the floor.  It cultivates a meekness in you, as well as mercy for others.  You become real.  A sincere faith means that your life becomes about God, you want to be obedient to His ways and follow the course He has laid out before you.  Genuine faith means denying ungodliness and chasing after purity. 

Paul encourages Timothy to keep his eye on these navigational points, and he includes another two:  the prophecies that had been spoken over Timothy’s life, and the spiritual gifts imparted to him.  What prophecies have been spoken over your life?  What are the gifts God has imparted to you?  Are you sailing in the right direction?  Are you developing yourself in these areas and moving out in them?  This is powerful wisdom from an older mentor, written down for us so that we can also make it our own. 

2 Corinthians 11:25

Three times I’ve been shipwrecked; for an entire night and a day I was adrift in the open sea.

Paul had first-hand knowledge of shipwrecks;  he knew the destruction it could bring.  He must have been thinking about these experiences when he described how we can shipwreck our faith.  This had happened to some in the Ephesian church that Timothy was overseeing:  they had lost their way by following wrong teaching, and had forgotten that love is the chief commandment;  some had gone off course because of greed and their intense desire and love for money;  others had tolerated sin, violating their own consciences so often, that their faith was shipwrecked.  They were pursuing the wrong things.

Just like Paul did not want that to happen to Timothy, God does not want that to happen to us.  It is wise to have a navigational point for our journey of faith, a kind of North Star for our lives;  something we can pause and look at every so often, so that when our hearts are drifting off course, we can adjust our sails to follow True North again.  Then we can remind ourselves what is truly important:  loving from a pure heart, a clear conscience and a genuine faith.