“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26.
Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 2 Timothy 1-4.
I read 2 Timothy this morning. It is a great book written in an uncomplicated style for the most part. It gives practical advice to the listeners of that day and to us as well.
Each of us is the “Lord’s servant,” so the instruction that follows in that verse is for us.
I latched on to “able to teach.” We all get opportunities to teach someone something. It could be something such as making the clicker work to open a garage door. The examples are countless. Some of us are better at it than others. Our Godliness MUST surface when we are called on to teach. Patience would surely be a necessity in teaching anything.
I was also caught with the phrase about “gently” instructing an opponent. That’s not easy! We are often so eager to drive home a point to them. However, in the process of driving home a point we can end up driving off an opponent. We don’t want that ending, do we?
To rightly represent God in my midst I must be filled with the Holy Spirit. I must be conscious of His presence in me so that what I say and what I do is done through that Filter. How often do we bulldoze past Him and end up projecting ourselves rather than Him.
“O Lord, I need You desperately. Forgive me for ever living life apart from You. What a mess I make of it! Govern my every move. I yield to You. Direct me. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, I pray.”
There are plenty of behavioral instructions in the Bible. We must get to doing the ones we can understand.
His Word For Me 