Strong in Grace

“You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

Paul related to Timothy much as a father would relate to a son. Paul wrote two important letters to Timothy to encourage him and to challenge him to fulfill his life’s potential in spiritual leadership. Timothy was leading the church at Ephesus at the time, and he needed this encouragement.

One of the essential challenges Paul gave Timothy was the admonition to be “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Timothy probably had the same question that comes to our minds: How? Fortunately, Paul went on to spell out clearly what he meant. Being strong in grace begins with who we are in Christ, of course, but it is measured more in terms of what we do. Our actions can help us gauge our “grace strength.” Three actions are apparent in what Paul said.

One action is to develop others. What we learn we pass on. But passing it on is qualified for us. We pass on what we have learned to men who are faithful to Jesus Christ, who have demonstrated that they are, so that they will in turn teach others. In other words, we train others to train others. To commit these teachings to them means also we must trust them.

A second action is to share in any suffering that might result from being a Christian. This calls for us to endure whatever comes and to focus on the task before us.

A third action is to keep Jesus in mind in everything we do. Especially, as we seek to witness to our world about the powerful grace of God, we need to keep Jesus in mind, and we need to faithfully proclaim His truth and love.

Lord, Help us each day we live to be strong in Your grace. Amen.