2 Timothy 1:13 What you heard from me, keep as
the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
(NIV)
When the apostle Paul was writing to his protégé Timothy,
he was trying to ensure that the next generation of believers would hold fast
to the faith that Paul personally experienced and taught. This would be have
been written about thirty to forty years after the Resurrection of Christ.
During those 3 or 4 decades, Christianity had flourished across the
Mediterranean, especially in the southern region of what we now call Turkey.
However, with this wonderful growth, there also came a plethora of different
teachers and preachers who all had their own personal ideas of what constituted
the Gospel Truth.
Paul’s personal appeal to Timothy in writing reveals to
us that the apostle, who was imprisoned at this time, was gravely concerned
about the faith of the new churches being hijacked by false teachers and greedy
preachers. Paul advised to Timothy to be on his guard against such unscrupulous
people who would use their charm, influence, and power to mesmerize believers,
in order to lead them down the wrong path and away from Christ. Paul also knew
that Timothy, who was destined to become the Bishop of Ephesus, would be very
influential among his peers. If the fledgling faith was going to survive in the
region, it would require Christian leaders who had been inspired by sound teaching,
and who expressed their beliefs through their faith and love in Jesus.
With the amazing amount of information available to us
from the Internet, we can sometimes experience difficulty in discerning what is
true or false teaching with regard to our Christian faith. New ideas, fresh
perspectives, and novel opinions can sometimes attract us, but they may also
detract us from following the truth. I personally go back through the four
Gospels whenever I’m faced with a new
approach to my faith. If I can’t find something that would corroborate the new
idea, I set it aside. That may be too simple for some folk but, after almost forty years of trying to be a Christian, I
have learned that it works for me.
May God bless you as you grow in faith and enable you to
share the love of Jesus.
Questions
for personal reflection
Who initially taught me about the Christian faith? How
have I passed on my faith experiences to the next generation?
Prayer: Lord
Jesus, we thank You for the gift of faith which has influenced, shaped, and
directed our lives. We praise You for Your true
teaching about God. Grant us new opportunities to share our faith and love in
You with others around us. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
John
Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian
Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions
about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com. Please also feel free to
share or forward this message to your own family and friends.
Today’s image is one of my
Celtic Cross drawings called ‘Celtic Heart.’ If you would like to view a larger
version, please click on this link: Cross.
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