Tuesday 18 February, 2014

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. He sent me to tell about the promise of life that is found in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy, I am sending you this letter. You are my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace. 3 I serve God, knowing that what I have done is right. That is how our people served him long ago. Night and day I thank God for you. Night and day I always remember you in my prayers. 4 I remember your tears. I long to see you so that I can be filled with joy. 5 I remember your honest and true faith. It was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. And I am certain that it is now alive in you also. 6 That is why I remind you to help God’s gift grow, just as a small spark grows into a fire. God put his gift in you when I placed my hands on you. 7 God didn’t give us a spirit that makes us weak and fearful. He gave us a spirit that gives us power and love. It helps us control ourselves.

I like how Paul mentions the faith of Timothy’s grandmother that was passed on to his mother and then on to Timothy.

I share the same birthday as my grandmother, although she had died before I was born. Sharing a birthday with my grandmother has always felt like a special bond with her to me, though I never knew her. I was told that she was a woman of strong faith in Jesus and she passed that faith on to my Dad, who passed it on to me. I can remember even as a little girl thinking how proud she would be of me following Jesus like she did.

Who are you passing your faith on to? Maybe your natural born children, or maybe your spiritual children, as Paul refers to Timothy here as his son. Paul encourages us to “fan into flame the gift of God” in our lives. Don’t lose sight of our eternal calling to leave a legacy of faith behind in the people who are following us.

Written by Shelley Witt