I Timothy 4:7-16
Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
These past several months, I have had the privilege to participate in a Bible Study Fellowship group with a Timothy. She is a mom of young children who loves the Lord and has been given insight through Christ into understanding the Scriptures. I don’t know her as well as I’d like to at this point, but to be fair, we have had to meet the last couple of months on Zoom and just relaxing and talking hasn’t been possible. When one or both of her children has popped up on screen during our Bible study, she has calmly taken them in hand and either brought them along with us or solved their problem and didn’t miss a beat of the discussion. Quite frankly, I’ve been impressed.
This Timothy woman home-schools her children and still finds time to grow in maturity in her Christian walk. I know the church she belongs to which needs a shout out as well for encouraging her to study God’s Word intently while also being so busy with her family. This is something churches don’t do enough of. We tend to tell young moms, “This is a busy time of your life, it’s ok if you don’t have a lot of time to study the Bible. You’ll have time later in life.” But we really don’t know if that is true. I don’t want to be morbid, but we really don’t know what will happen in the next seconds of our lives. We need to make God our focus now.
Paul saw the spiritual gift that God gave Timothy even though he was so young. Paul tells Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young….” Those of us who are ‘mature’ need to listen to these words from Paul as well. We tend to think that wisdom comes with age and that others should listen to us because we have experience on our side. This may be so in some things, but experience does not mean entitlement. When we see those who are young, but faithful, we need to give encouragement, not advice. While going through this Bible study, it has become apparent that this young woman didn’t just go through the motions and quickly answered the questions from each lesson. Her answers were thoughtful and clearly inspired. It was totally clear that already, she is a woman of faith.
Paul continued to tell Timothy what he needed to do as he was spreading the Gospel. “…set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” Indeed, this is what all of us should do. However, a young person who acts accordingly, his/her actions speak so much louder. So it is with this woman. What she says and how she says it shows maturity beyond her years. I can’t wait to see how she grows and progresses in her journey to Heaven. I hope to be a part of her life through study for years to come. If I have this opportunity, what fun to watch her and her family grow in their faith.
I have no doubts that they will. This Timothy has taken to heart Paul’s words to be diligent in the studying and devoting oneself to God’s Word. Because of her perserverence in studying God’s Word, she is carefully watching her own life and making sure she is making righteous decisions in her walk with God.
If you are a mature Christian and a young Timothy shows up in your life, be an encourager. Thank God for His gift of Timothy and support him/her whenever possible.
Photo credit: Easter, C. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzPSEJKJWoM
