1 Timothy 6:2 (DRB)

Passage

But they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but serve them the rather, because they are faithful and beloved, who are partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

Nearby Context

1 Timothy 6:1 Whosoever are servants under the yoke, let them count their masters worthy of all honour; lest the name of the Lord and his doctrine be blasphemed.

1 Timothy 6:2 But they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but serve them the rather, because they are faithful and beloved, who are partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise and consent not to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to that doctrine which is according to godliness,

1 Timothy 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and strifes of words; from which arise envies, contentions, blasphemies, evil suspicions,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "believing", "masters", "despise", "brethren", "serve", "rather", and "faithful". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "believing", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Whosoever are servants under the yoke let..." into verse 3's "If any man teach otherwise and consent...", so "faith" and "believing" belong inside that flow. In 1 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "faith" and "believing" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.