2 Timothy 2:22-26 NLT
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.
“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts.”
As a Christian, it is vitally important to separate ourselves from anything that can cause us to sin. Sin separates us from God, and one thing that we have control over is our exposure to something that can cause us to sin.
James 1:13-15 NLT
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
We need to be mindful of the difference between temptation and trials. We have a lot of control over our exposure to temptations. We have minimal control over our trials, including layoffs, death in the family, or unforeseen health issues.
In the verses from 2 Timothy, it says, “run from anything that stimulates.” Living like this is in our control.
Instead, it says, “pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love and peace.”
“Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”
As we journey through this life as a Christian, we must be in fellowship with other solid Christians. This is a team sport by design, people are there to build us up, and we are there to build others up.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NLT
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
This part was important enough for Paul to have mentioned it twice, “Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.”
The major arguments that regard the faith have always boiled down to the “how” of worship. Furthermore, it boils down to one person’s will about the faith over another with a winner and a loser. And in this scenario, there are no winners at all.
You can find this from right at the beginning of the church in the Acts when the Jewish believers were demanding that Gentile believers be circumcised.
Paul preached about the importance of the heart of the believer before God and that a pure heart for God will produce the desire to live a Godly life.
“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must:”
1. Be kind to EVERYONE. Living like this, as a Christian, has no conditions.
Luke 6:31 NLT
Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
This is turned upside down from how we do it; we tend to treat others the way we are treated.
As Christian, we are to be kind regardless of how we are being treated or our circumstances.
2. Be able to teach. When we are in fellowship with others, people are there to help us, and we are here to help others and will come as a form of teaching.
A key here to make sure that we’ve “got” what we are attempting to teach. Applying what we are learning is the way we start to “get” it.
3. Be patient with difficult people. Our spirit with regards to others shouldn’t be timid, but it shouldn’t be prideful either. It should be patient.
I have been attempting, when finding myself getting toe to toe, to get side by side with the person to see it from their view. Doing this is a mental exercise for me but helps me with my meditation on Ephesians 6:12, “The enemy is not flesh and blood.”
4. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.
What is the truth?
John 14:6 NLT
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the truth.
And based on the Sovereign Will of God, “Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.”
God is and always has been in control of changing hearts.
Sometimes we think if we apply enough pressure on someone, they will come to their senses, but only the Hand of God can change anything, and that change lasts forever.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and Your promise.
I pray that You give me a compassionate heart—a heart for serving those around me with the love that You have given me.
I thank You for Your promise and Your provision.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
