13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
The older I get, the more I have seen that if you follow Christ the best you know how, somebody’s not going to like it!
As a young pastor 30 years ago, I was shocked when I encountered opposition! . How could this happen if I just preached the Word and loved people?
While I was naive about this, over the years I have seen the Bible is not naive about this at all. The Bible is an honest book. I began to see it sprinkled throughout the New Testament. Whether it’s about a person’s personality or politics, it’s real. Sometimes I need gentle correction, sure. At other times, it says more about “them” than about me.
The remedy? It’s right here when Paul was coaching young Timothy and talking about his own examples of those who deserted him vs. those who stayed with him. He starts,
“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”
Stick to the apostle’s teachings, with faith (trust in the grace at work whether you see it or not), and most of all deeply immersed in the love of Christ. Somehow, it all seems to work out. And when it’s tough, the good news is we’ve got plenty of company in the Bible and among the saints. Our struggle puts us in touch with the bigger picture of how the Spirit is moving in the world.
Bless you all.
