First Letter From Small Man To He Gives Honor 1 Timothy

¹⁰This is the reason we struggle and work so hard, for we have put our hope in the Living Great Spirit. He is the one who sets free and makes whole all of humankind, but first and foremost those who put their trust in him.

¹¹Teach and instruct others in all these things. ¹²Let no one look down on you because you are young. Lead the way for others in all that you say and do, and also by trusting, loving, and walking with a pure heart. ¹³Until I come to see you, make sure you read the Sacred Teachings out loud at our sacred family gatherings, and teach with words that lift people’s spirits high.

¹⁴Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you. This gift came to you through a word of prophecy that was given when the council of elders laid their hands on you to set you in place as a spiritual leader. ¹⁵Meditate on these things. Give all your time and energy to doing them. In this way, everyone will see how far down the good road you have traveled. ¹⁶Keep a close watch on yourself and on what you are teaching. Keep doing all that I have told you. In this way, you will set free and make whole not only yourself but all who listen to you.

¹Never speak sharp words to a man who is your elder. Instead, speak respectfully to him as to a father. Speak to the younger men as brothers, ²to the women elders as mothers, and to the young women as sisters, keeping your thoughts pure.

³Honor and take care of the women whose husbands have walked on, if they truly need help. ⁴But if any among them have children or grandchildren, they should take care of her with respect as she once did for them, for this is what Creator wants them to do. ⁵The sacred family should take care of women who have no one to care for them as long as they are looking to Creator for their help and continue to send up prayers night and day. ⁶But the ones who live only to please themselves are spiritually dead even while they live.

⁷Instruct the sacred family members about these things, so no one will have a reason to accuse or look down on them. ⁸For all who fail to care for the members of their own family have denied the truth of our spiritual ways6 and are worse than an outsider who does not trust as we do.

⁹To be counted as a widow to be taken care of by the sacred family, a woman must be an elder of sixty winters or older who was faithful to her husband.7 ¹⁰She must also have a reputation for doing good. Has she raised her children in a good way? Has she welcomed travelers into her home? Has she washed the feet of Creator’s holy ones?8 Has she offered help to people during hard times? Has she always been willing to do good for others?

¹¹Do not include the younger widows for this kind of care. For when their natural human desires draw them away from their devotion to the Chosen One, they will want to get married. ¹²Then they will be found guilty of breaking the sacred promise they made to remain unmarried. ¹³They make a habit of going around from home to home doing nothing and helping no one. Not only that, they talk about people behind their backs, stick their noses into places they do not belong, and say things that should not be said.

¹⁴That is why I want the younger widows to get married, have children, and take good care of their own families. Then the enemy will have nothing to say against them. ¹⁵For some of the younger widows have already wandered away to follow Accuser (Satan) the evil trickster snake.

¹⁶If sacred family members have a widow in the family, let them take her in and care for her. This will lift the burden from the sacred family so the widows who have no family will be cared for.

¹⁷The elders who are spiritual leaders are to be given double honor—most of all, the ones who work hard at instructing and teaching others. ¹⁸For our Sacred Teachings tell us, “When an ox is used to harvest corn, do not cover its mouth and keep it from eating,”9 and “Those who work hard should be given the honor and goods they have worked hard for.”10

¹⁹If someone accuses an elder who is a spiritual leader with wrongdoing, do not listen unless two or three others say the same thing. ²⁰Even so, a spiritual leader who continues in wrongdoing must be brought before all of the council of elders for correction as a warning to others.

²¹With the Great Spirit as my witness, along with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One and his chief11 spirit-messengers, I call on you, He Gives Honor (Timothy), to follow my instructions by treating everyone the same and not taking the side of one over another. ²²Do not be in a hurry to lay your hands on others to choose them as spiritual leaders. Do not take part in the broken ways of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³No longer drink only water, and from now on use a little wine to purify the water. This will be good medicine for the times you have a bad stomach.

²⁴Some people’s broken ways are plain to see even before their guilt is decided. The guilt of others becomes clear later on. ²⁵In the same way, the good deeds of some are clearly seen, and even if they are not clear for all to see, they will not be hidden for long.

¹Any sacred family members who are slaves should treat their earthly masters with respect. In this way Creator will not be given a bad reputation, and no one will speak against him or what we teach. ²Those who are slaves to masters who are sacred family members should not for that reason look down on them. Instead, they should serve them all the more, for the ones who benefit from their service are also much-loved sacred family members. Teach and urge others to walk in these ways.

³There are some who teach things that are not in agreement with the good words spoken by our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, and with the teaching that keeps us walking in a sacred way. ⁴Teachers like this think they know it all, but they really understand nothing. There is a sickness in the way they think. They argue over the meaning of words, which takes people down a path of envy, fighting, name-calling, and evil mistrust of each other.

⁵They keep stirring up trouble between people whose minds have wandered away from the truth. They even think that walking in the ways of the Great Spirit is a path to getting more and more possessions. ⁶It is true that following the ways of the Great Spirit will lead to great possessions, but only when people are at peace with what they have. ⁷For we came into this world with nothing and can take nothing with us when we leave it. ⁸So, as long as we have food to eat and a roof over our heads, we should be at peace with what we have.

⁹Those who long for more and more possessions stumble into temptation and are trapped by many foolish desires that drag them down and take them to a bad end. ¹⁰For the love of possessions is the root of many evil, thorny branches. Some, who have made possessions their aim in life, have walked away from the good road and have been pierced by thorns that bring them much pain and sorrow.

¹¹But you, O man who follows the Great Spirit, run away from these things and pursue doing what is right, living in a sacred way, trusting, loving, never giving up, and walking softly and in a humble manner. ¹²Fight the good fight of trusting Creator. Get a firm hold on the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. The Great Spirit called you to this life when you said yes to him and made it known before many people that you had chosen to walk the good road with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

¹³As you stand before the Great Spirit who gives life to all things, and before Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, who told the truth in a good way when he stood before Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate), I call on you ¹⁴to follow through with this way of life to which he has called you. Keep walking a path that no one can find fault with until the day comes when our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, will appear.

¹⁵That day will be revealed when the time is right by the Blessed One who alone rules above all others, the Grand Chief Above All Chiefs. ¹⁶He is the only one over whom death has no power. His life shines so bright no one can even come near him, and no human eye has ever been able to fully see him. To him belongs all honor and power to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

¹⁷Instruct the ones who have many possessions in this present world not to see themselves as better than others. They must not put their hope in their many possessions, which cannot be depended on, but in the Great Spirit, who, from his great possessions, provides all we need to enjoy life. ¹⁸Instruct them to walk in a good way, to possess many good deeds, and to be willing and ready to share with those in need. ¹⁹In this way, they will be storing up and preparing themselves for the life of the world to come, the true life of beauty and harmony that never grows old or fades away.12

²⁰O He Gives Honor (Timothy), keep a close watch over the things that you have been entrusted with. Turn away from foolish and empty talk and arguments about what is falsely called knowledge. ²¹For there are some who, having held this “knowledge” to be true, have strayed away from the good road in which we trust.

May the gift of Creator’s great kindness walk with you on the road of life.

Aho! May it be so!