Theological Reflection

20 Verses from 2 Timothy

1:1 - A Christian leader is one who is chosen by God according to His will. God is bringing about the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life through His work in His chosen leaders. The leader is invited to join God in the preaching of the Gospel and seeing new life brought about by the power of His Word and Holy Spirit.

2. 1:3 - A Christian leader is one who recognizes the gift of fellow servants from the hand of God and gives thanks for what God is doing through them. God unites and empowers His servants with the presence and help from each other. The leader is invited to see that he is not alone or indispensable to God’s plan, but is a part of a larger team of servants God has put together to further His kingdom.

3. 1:7 - A Christian leader is one who trusts in the sovereign power, love and grace of God. God uses His servants to encourage and strengthen one another. The Christian leader is invited to help strengthen and embolden one another and to rely on others to remind him of God’s love and power for him as well.

4. 1:12 - A Christian leader is one who understands that God’s presence and power is greater than whatever suffering we might face because of His Gospel. God is able to strengthen us and guard the work He has begun in His people. We are invited to trust Him even in the midst of suffering and hardship, knowing He is accomplishing His work in and through us.

5. 1:13 - The Christian leader holds onto the right doctrine and teaching about God and the Gospel. Through sound teaching God reveals to us who He really is and His love for us in Christ Jesus. We are called to know God as He truly is and to make Him known by the right teaching of His Word.

6. 2:1 - The Christian leader not only holds onto the sound teaching he has learned about God, but he also passes that teaching on to others who can also guard the truth of the Gospel. God has designed a way of passing on His Word through discipleship as one generation takes what they know and passes it onto the next. The Christian leader is invited to join God by seeking to disciple and train others in the Gospel.

7. 2:4 - The Christian leader has a single minded focus on what God has called him to do. God is the sole focus and pleasure of the leader. The leader is invited to join God by focusing on the joy found in Christ and His Gospel.

8. 2:9 - The Christian leader must remember that whatever suffering he might endure, the Word of God cannot be hindered by human obstacles. God is able to use our suffering and what is intended by evil by those who oppose us to actually accomplish salvation for His people. We are invited to trust and remember Christ even as we suffer for His purposes.

9. 2:15 - The Christian leader is to devote himself to the things of God as a diligent worker for His glory. God is displaying His glory through those called to serve Him. We are invited to show the glory of God to those around us who don’t know Him.

10. 2:25 - The Christian leader is to treat others, especially his opponents with gentleness and to avoid a quarrelsome attitude. God is using the strength of gentleness of his servants to bring about repentance of those who oppose Him. We are invited to love and bless those who stand against us so they might come to the saving knowledge of the truth of Christ.

11. 3:2-5 - There are people the Christian leader should avoid association with, not that he should not seek to find ways to share the Gospel, but there are people who will seek to undermine the gospel. God will give discernment to the leader to know with whom to avoid association. The leader is being invited to a life of a holy and discerning lifestyle.

12. 3:10 - The Christian leader should find mentors to follow and imitate as they follow Christ. God uses His people to help form and mature others in the Gospel. We are invited to follow other leaders God has placed in our lives.

13. 3:12 - The Christian leader should expect persecution and opposition from the world for their commitment to Christ. God is using this opposition to continue to develop within the leader a godly lifestyle. We are invited to suffer hardship with joy knowing we belong to Christ.

14. 3:15 - The Christian leader knows that the Scriptures contain all we need to know for salvation. God has made clear His plan of salvation and grace through His Word. We are invited to place our confidence in the sufficiency of God’s Word.

15. 3:16 - The Christian leader is convinced that the Scriptures are given to us by God for our holiness and discipleship. God uses His Word to instruct His people to grow in holiness and righteousness. We are invited to continue to grow in the Gospel of Christ as we go deeper into God’s Word.

16. 4:2 - The Christian leader must always preach God’s Word, always being ready to speak God’s Word for encouragement and discipline. God uses His servants who preach His word to feed and guide His people. We are invited to give those we teach the words of life that come from God’s Word alone.

17. 4:3 - People will not always want to hear God’s Word and the Christian leader must fight the temptation to give into their desires to preach something other than God’s Word. God uses His leaders to display His glory even when the world has turned from Him. We are being invited to remain faithful to the calling He has placed upon us rather than give into the whims of the world around us.

18. 4:7 - The Christian leader, like Paul, ought to fight to keep the faith to the end. God is using His leaders to show His value and worth in their lives as they fight this fight of faith. God is inviting us to show the surpassing worth of Christ in how we live by faith.

19. 4: 17 - The Christian leader does not do the work of ministry alone, but with the Lord’s presence every step of the way. God is showing His faithfulness to His leaders with His continuing presence and never failing love. We are invited to stand strong knowing that Christ will never leave or forsake us.

20. 4:18 - The Christian leader will be rescued from every evil intention planned against him, even if it means his death, knowing that even death cannot keep us from the presence of Christ. God is ensuring the ultimate safety and security of His leader against the opposition of the world because we know that our eternal security is safe within His hands. We are invited to give all and endure all hardship knowing that we will be brought safely into Christ’s heavenly kingdom, no matter what the world might do to us.