1 Timothy 4:16 (CEB)
16 Focus on working on your own development and on what you teach. If you do this, you will save yourself and those who hear you.
Reflection
| Yesterday we said goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025. This year promises change, and we are already seeing things begin to stir – a new political administration coming in the United States, planets are shifting into an alignment that hasn’t occurred in over 300 years, and technology is evolving faster than it ever has before. There are also babies being born, cures being discovered, art being created, people falling in love, and new adventures launching. Though I feel a bit like this cartoon… |
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| …. I’m also trying to practice being grateful to be alive as we watch and learn from such a profound time in human history. We can feel afraid of change, or we can watch it unfold with a spirit of awe and wonder. The changes will occur, but we each get to individually decide how we respond to them. A thank you to https://gingerrothhaas.com for this intro. |
Timothy may have been born around 17 A.D. Timothy’s mother was Jewish and named Eunice who became a Jewish Christian. His father was a Greek gentile. His grandmother was named Lois, and she too became a Christian. According to Paul, Timothy was taught about scripture when only a child. 1 Timothy 3:14 – 4:16 is believed to have been written to illustrate the benefits of sound teaching and instruction.
2 Timothy 3:14-15 tells us that from a child, Timothy knew scripture and found salvation through faith is Jesus.
1 Timothy 4:4 – 6 tell us that there is nothing from which we receive godly enjoyment and benefit that does not come from God, and we should give thanks to God always and in everything through word and prayer. Paul then tells Timothy that as a minister of God he is called to preach God’s word to the church. If pastors and teachers, like Timothy, do not sustain their own spiritual development by continually learning from Scripture, it will be impossible for them to teach the Word to others.
In verse 16 Paul instructs Timothy to persevere in spiritual development, both personally and professionally, as that will deliver both himself and those under his care through the delivering and transforming power found in God’s Word.
by Clarence Beverage
For Pondering and Prayer
If you are like me you do not reflect on how important teaching and training have been in your life. Now, I am thinking, wow, how would I have turned out if my parents didn’t teach me how to speak and read well, grasp beginning math, be physically active, observe and so much more.
Learning from teachers, I will always remember 4th grade reading and how my teacher instilled in me a great love and desire to read and winning the prize for most books read that year. I remember feeling quite uncomfortable when as a young boy scout our troop was taken to an area where we had never been and being told to go out into the woods, no one else near you, find a good place to lay out a sleeping bag, and not come back until sunrise. I become braver that night.
I have many great life reflections on learning in later elementary school and then in middle school when I started to build electronic kits and make things for science fair. Then life began to encompass teaching as well as learning and seeing how more could be done with a partner and then teams.
Looking at our intro I know for sure that when I responded to something new with a positive attitude, yes, even some awe and wonder, it always went much better.
What do you think about Timothy, how he was instilled with knowledge of God at an early age and how he ended up being a spiritual person and teacher of God’s word being mentioned many times in the New Testament as a role model?
Does this help you to want to get into a deeper relationship with God by spending more time in scripture?
Maybe you are thinking that you could help someone get excited about a closer walk with God like you are enjoying?
Prayer: Dear Lord, it is at times like this that we may be inspired to look at our lives and
do something more valuable than we had thought possible. We ask for the presence of your Holy Spirit as we seek to hear your will for our lives and how it may impact others. Amen.
