If we never seek Christ, we will never find Christ. If we never study God's Word, we will never understand God's Word. A "man of God" must "lay hold" of these things. He must understand what godliness is and then take hold of it with intensity.

Of the 73 times that the phrase "man of God" is used in Scripture, it is only used twice in the New Testament - 1 Timothy 6:11 and 2 Timothy 3:17.  The actual term for "man of God" is a possessive term that means the individual has a very unique spiritual relationship with God.  It is a term that refers to someone who has yielded their life to God for His purposes, and someone through whom God can work.

Now, if someone is a "man of God", then that identification and that recognition carries with it an incredible measure of responsibility.  It is just like someone who has the title "President of the United States".  Just the title carries with it an extraordinary significance.  So, the term "man of God" has profound spiritual implications, and everyone should desire that they could be identified with this particular, but rare New Testament term.  The term is utterly pregnant with implications of personal character - dependability, honesty, faithfulness, accountability, integrity, truthfulness, and many more.  In the Old Testament anyone who spoke the Word of God to the people of God was considered to be a "man of God".  All of the prophets were men of God, and their one duty above all others was that they faithfully and accurately discharged the Word of God.  So, from an Old Testament perspective, if someone was a "man of God", then he was first and foremost an individual who was faithful in accurately speaking for God as His representative.  In the New Testament the same principle would be applicable.

It is obvious that God has placed an incredible responsibility on the shoulders of godly leaders within a church setting.  The responsibility is really twofold.  The first is that "men of God" are to faithfully nurture and minister to the church.  The second is that a "man of God" is to pay careful attention to personal piety and faithfulness.  A spiritually healthy church always depends on having spiritually healthy leaders whose ministry and personal life continually display Christlikeness.  There are no short-cuts to these attributes of godliness.  To the contrary, the journey will most likely be difficult, demanding, and at times very wearisome.

In 1 Timothy 6:11-12 Paul reminded Timothy to "flee" certain things and to "pursue" certain things.  The word "flee" is a present imperative verb which simply means that Timothy is to continually keep on fleeing, avoiding, steering clear of, and staying away from certain things in his life.  It is the Greek word "pheugo" from where the English word "fugitive" is derived.  It is a word that carries the basic idea of separating and of removing yourself from something that can be harmful to your life.  The verb "pursue" is also in the present imperative tense which is a command to continually be doing something.  I.e., always be fleeing certain things and always be pursuing certain things.  Continually stay away from certain things and continually seek certain things.  Stay away from what is ungodly and pursue what is godly.

Paul also tells Timothy to "lay hold of eternal life".  If someone wants an education, then they have to go to school somewhere.  They have to do some homework, read some books, write some papers, and take some tests in order to get an education.  They have to put themselves on a path, in a direction, and on a course that allows them to "lay hold" of an education.  It is no different for a "man of God".  He must place himself in the way of godliness.  No one can ever be a "man of God" without being godly.  If we never do anything spiritual, we will never receive anything spiritual.  If we never seek Christ, we will never find Christ.  If we never study God's Word, we will never understand God's Word.  A "man of God" must "lay hold" of these things.  He must understand what godliness is and then take hold of it with intensity.  At times it will be costly simply because there is no such thing as a "no cost Christianity".  It simply does not exist.  Somewhere in our Christian culture we have come to the false conclusion that what we want spiritually can be acquired fairly easily.  If we want something material, all we have to do is go to a store and buy it.  In the Christian life, however, the exact opposite is true.  Attributes like faithfulness, integrity, and endurance never come quickly, and they never come easily.

In John MacArthur's commentary on 1 Timothy he made the excellent point that "doctrine controls behavior".  We could put that another way and say that how a person lives reflects what they really believe about God.  Every believer is a reflection of their theology.  Right now, today, this moment you are living out what you really believe about God.  A.W. Tozer said in his book The Knowledge of the Holy that "what comes into a man's mind when he thinks about God is the most important thing about that man".  We can predict with a high degree of certainty the spiritual future of a man if we simply know what he thinks about God.