DO NOT PRESS

Kids these Days

Remember when you were a kid and you thought that nothing could ever end you?

2 Timothy 2:22 CSB

Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

There are a couple of interesting words here and not the ones that you think. we have talked about righteousness, faith, love and peace and those words matter more than any of us realize. but I want to focus on two words that Paul is using when he talks to Timothy here those two words are along with.

It’s important to realize what’s going on here. We see the words flee youthful passions and we make assumptions. Timothy was likely in his early 30s at this point, and still dealing with what happens to many of us in our younger years. We have all heard the joke I wish all the hard things had happened when i was young and knew everything. The older we get the more we come to realize what matters and what’s important. And so we read Paul telling Timothy the things to go after that are the opposit of what most young people deal with. Impatience. intolerance, love of argument, self assertion, and partiality are all things that younger less seasoned people have working in their lives. If we are all honest we all have those things in our lives.

What happens so many times is our NEED to be right. To prove that we know and no one else does, the desire to argue for the sake of argument all of these things are what Paul is telling Timothy to run from.

When being right is more important than building relationship and earning the ability to share our faith, there’s a problem.

(expound)

So Paul says those words along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. We are not meant to do faith alone, we are not meant to face the hard parts of faith alone. We are supposed to find people that can share our faith, help with our burdens and sharpen us.

When we read that we are supposed to actually pursue those people it tells us volumes about how faith is supposed to be done in the world today.

Red Button Syndrome

2 Timothy 2:23 CSB

But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels.

I have a confession to make. There are times that I like to push buttons. (expound)

Now when we do that with family members or friends in fun it’s one thing, but when it comes to things of faith, things that matter there is a problem with doing so.

Paul is telling Timothy to reject ignorant disputes because they breed quarrels. But why why is this something that Paul would have decided he needed to point out and what are the ramifications for the church today?

Last week we talked about how important it is for what we say and what we do to match up.

The world is watching, we know this but not just the world, when the church is doing it’s job there will be a wide variety of people in the church itself on a regular basis, there should be at any given moment in our sphere of influence. Seekers, New Followers of Christ and seasoned Christ followers. It matters how we act towards each other. We have to understand that people can’t hear the truth of the gospel, when all they hear is petty arguments and see people acting like entitled children.

(talk about quarreling and how it effects the church and it’s influence)

Not just the preacher

2 Timothy 2:24–25 CSB

The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth.

(point out gentle to everyone, as well as being able to teach (the basics of how to be saved) and patient. doing it all gently.)expound

It’s all about the truth. The truth that sets us free.

Jesus.

This Week’s Challenge

Let it go! This week spend time reading 1 and 2 Timothy, then ask God to work the truth of the gospel into your life and help you let it go.

Let go the need to be right, to be noticed, and to be praised. Instead grab onto the privilege of Loving God, serving others, and building relationship that opens the door to a chance to share the truth of the gospel