These are notes collected from studying with brothers in Christ. Anything good comes from the Lord. Everything else is from us!
2 Timothy 1:5 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that first dwelt with your gma Lois and mom Eunice and now I am sure dwells with you.”
I love how this shows the importance of multi generational faith and the legacy we leave by bringing children to the Lord as it can ripple through for generations.
2 Timothy 2:4- “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
So much can distract us in the day to day that is not from Him…in the same vein…
2 Timothy 2:22 “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with ignorant controversies who you know breed quarrels.”
Very similar to what was said above, as I read 2 Timothy I am struck by the importance of passing our faith to the next generation.
1:2: “To Timothy, my dear son…”
2:1-2 “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses…”
2:22 “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness…”
The whole book feels like a dad passing along wisdom to his son. As a father myself one of my biggest goals in life is to teach the way of Jesus to my children so they can understand it, believe it, and make it their own.
It also colors it a bit to consider this is the final letter of Paul. So it’s his last words, which seemed filled with a heart of leaving a legacy that continues on through the generations. May it be Lord
“Avoid such people.” (2 Tim 3:5)
This stood out big time. It seems a good contrast with 2 Tim 3:10 where Paul essentially says, “You’ve spent time with me so that should help you.”
At first when reading that list in 2 Tim 3 of people in the last days, I thought of how much it sounded like those around us at this time. It made me think of the hard ground around us that seems tough to penetrate Gods word. My first instinct is to press on with such people. But here it’s saying avoid them.
I guess 2 things help me put this in perspective:
- It’s similar to Jesus saying that we preach the gospel and those who reject we leave alone while those who receive we stay with. We don’t know the response until we share. But if they show hardness, Gods strategy seems to be move on.
- I think the flip side of this strategy is that it gives us an opportunity to grow with and love well those who choose Jesus. This is our family and when outreach prevents us from loving well the family we have in Christ, our outreach becomes dismal. Instead, one of the greatest outreach is to love well the family of Christ: “they will know you by your love for one another” “I pray that the church may be one so the world would believe Jesus” (John 13 and 17)
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