The beauty of one verse.
2 Timothy 2
Verse 1
My son. He wasn’t his son. Not biologically. But Paul was his spiritual father. We are short of such fathers. We have fathers but not spiritual fathers. The ones that demonstrate Christlikeness. The ones that cheer on, applaud and have a desire that the son goes further, does more, than the father. The ones who say “keep going”,v3; “keep focused”, v4-6; “keep looking to Jesus”, v8-13; “keep leading”, v14 onwards.
Be strong in the grace. We must find our strength not in our achievements and our status, our titles and accomplishments. We must find strength not in the plaudits and praise of man. But we are strong in a love that is not based on whether we are good or bad, whether we are successful or have failed, but in grace. Grace that seems unfair. Grace that covers and clothes. Grace that never dies because He died to release it. You will let many people down, you will disappoint, you will not be popular all the time. But be strong in Grace. By doing so you will realise you are not perfect, you need Grace. You probably agree with your critics, but Grace disagrees. You do not take yourself too seriously, you know you will always need Grace. You can survive your humanity because of Grace.
This is Grace not from man. Man can never deliver such Grace. Man wants conditions. They want a win-win. You get something from them but they want something from you. Man can not let you fail and get away with it. They won’t let it pass. They must speak up. Thank God it is not this Grace we need. But the Grace that makes us strong is found in Christ Jesus. Remember Him, Jesus, raised from the dead … This is my gospel, v8.
It’s worth reminding ourselves.
Missions Paul 