Provider or Prover?
“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 (KJV)
Two men leave home before sunrise and work late every night. From the street they look the same. One is working to provide. The other is working to prove something.
Providing is good and right. Paul says, “if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.” Working hard for the people you love is part of faithfulness.
Proving is different. It is working to show your father you made it, to beat the people who doubted you, to feel like enough. It drives just as hard, but it never arrives, because the audience is never satisfied.
Paul asked himself a sharp question: “do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Ask yourself who your work is really for. You can keep working just as hard. But the one who provides goes home in peace. The one who proves never quite gets there.
Read it yourself
Read Galatians 1:10–12. Where does Paul say his message came from?
When you push hard at work, is it mostly providing or proving?
Lord, free me from the need to prove myself. Let me work to provide and to serve you. Amen.