AVOID FOOLISH CONTROVERSIES AND GENEALOGIES

Thursday - August 18, 2022

Posted

“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.” – Titus 3:9

What is the largest ancestry in the world? How far can we go back? Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, states that the longest family tree in the world is that of the Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551-479 BC). The tree spans more than 80 generations and includes more than 2 million members. An international effort involving more than 450 branches around the world was started in 1998 to retrace and revise this family tree. The latest findings were published in 2009.

But there is a longer and older family tree than Confucius. It is a family tree that spans every human generation since the beginning of creation. It can be traced back chronologically through the Bible to around 6000 years ago, and every human being that has ever been born on this planet, including you and me, belong to this ancestry. This ancestry began with Adam, the father of all humanity.

Foolish genealogies and pointless controversies waste our time. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that in Him we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and seeks to use your time wisely to honor Christ.

“Genealogy: a perverse preoccupation of those who seek to demonstrate that their forebears were better people than they are.”  – Sydney J. Harris

God’s Word: “nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.” – 1 Timothy 1:4