Sunday 25 July, 2021

14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

I take three things from this passage of Scripture:

1. Avoid useless arguments over words and stop talking about unimportant things.  ie. “Don’t sweat small stuff”.  The reason Paul says this is because not only will it lead you astray but those in your hearing as well.  We don’t want to turn people away from the Christian faith because of some silly or thoughtless thing we have said.

2.  Work hard!  Can’t put any spin on this one just work hard.  Make sure you know God’s word and what it means.

3. The ultimate fallback – “But God’s truth stands firm like a great rock, and nothing can shake it.” Reading God’s word and having it as a foundation in your life will show you what is important and what you should spend time doing.  It also centres your life on God’s truth preventing worthless discussions that don’t build faith. Always come back to and stay in God’s word!

Dear God, thank you so much for your Word.  As I read the Bible may your words transform my conversations and what I devote time to, Amen.

Written by Ps. Ainslie Woods