- Lack of empathy
- Poor communication
- Emotional or physical abuse
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- Perfectionism
- Fear and unpredictability
- Denial
- Disrespect of boundaries
- Control
- Excessive criticism
What are some characteristics of healthy families? Do you have areas in your church family that need help?
Why would Paul encourage Timothy to treat his fellow church members like family members?
Verse 3-8: What do you feel is a Christian’s responsibility toward their aging parents? How long do you think parents should be providing for the well being of their children?
What is a Christian’s responsibility to provide for others? How do you know when you’re being a godly provider?
Verse 9-10: Why would Paul be selective about who the church provides for? What criteria should churches have for providing for the needs of others?
Verse 11-15: Do you know of anyone who’s tempted to be a busybody or gossip within your circle of influence? Do you have a temptation to spend a lot of time complaining about how everything is messed up instead of engaging in a fruitful work? What differentiates a fruitful rest from idleness?
Verse 15: How do you think your church does as far as managing its budget? Do you think a church should ever go into debt? How should churches differentiate necessary versus unnecessary expenses?
Verse 16-19: What are your expectations for church leadership? How do you know if they are doing a good job at leading?
Verse 20: At what point do you need to publicly call out someone’s sinful behavior? In what context should that be done?
Verse 21-25: Paul advises us not to make snap judgments about people but to evaluate the faith of a person by looking at their behavior over a long period of time. In what areas of life are people quick to make bad judgments about others? Where should we be focusing to determine where fellow believers might’ve needed intervention?
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