Good morning!
Text: 2 Timothy; Psalm 119:129-144
This second letter to Timothy is so rich that I find almost all of it underlined in my study Bible. A terrific condensed instruction manual for the life of being transformed to be like Jesus is found in 2:22:
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
When we come to Jesus we come with the urges and passions of the old self. Youthful passions – some immoral others just foolish. As we grow in Christ we are called to leave them behind; to “flee”, to run away from them with haste. Whenever we need to lose a bad habit, we must replace it with a new one. We find that we are to pursue four here: 1) Righteousness; A life that chooses and acts rightly, 2) Faith; A life that deeply depends upon and trusts the Lord, 3) Love: A life inhabited by God’s love and acting in genuine love for others, and 4) Peace: A life that seeks and makes peace with others, and nurtures contentment within. And all these things must be done in community with other believers (“along with those…). Simple, right?
in Him, Mike