Wednesday 15th March - 1 Timothy 1

Today’s chapter is 1 Timothy 1

Tom writes:

I don’t think Paul was a cockney. I’ve not yet seen the verse where he calls Jesus his gov’nor. So when he calls Timothy “my son” it is more than a colloquialism he’d picked up down the market. It was a statement. It really meant something both to him and to Timothy. We are now entering into a raft of “pastoral” letters which bring a potent challenge to my disconnected, boundaried approach to church-life and home life. Paul saw Timothy as his true son in the faith. He invited Timothy into his life like he was the fruit of his loins and the heir to his estate. Paul was deeply committed to Timothy.  He had huge affection for him. He was willing to spend himself and give himself to see Timothy advance. And this is such a potent challenge to me because I have to ask myself who is my Timothy? Who have I drawn into my nuclear family to such an extent that they would see themselves as my son (or daughter?).

I don’t think the Paul/Timothy relationship is meant to be exclusive to celibate apostles or pastors of churches. I think all of us are meant to invite others into our lives for the sake of raising them up. The phrase “raising sons and daughters” has come to mean a lot to me. It speaks of sticking with people through thick and thin, of investing in others over the long haul. It speaks of actually helping others reach their potential. I wonder if you are doing that? I wonder whether you could lean more towards that? In this throw-away, instant age it would be a beautiful thing to be people who see the worst of others, and invest in them all the same. Whatever else comes up in these pastoral epistles I think the overwhelming thrust of them can be summed up in this; will we continue to treat people like distant cousins, or will we draw them in and nurture them like sons?

Question for reflection

Do you have a “Timothy”? Who might God be asking you to raise up to their full potential?

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