Maybe you’ve been hurt or exploited by a counterfeit Christian and your faith was shaken. Or perhaps your loved one is facing that now. Paul knew Timothy also would be exposed to this in the church, and he wanted to prepare and protect him with this advice.
In a culture that thrives on controversy, we’re eager to argue our points. But with what goal? And at what cost? Paul gives a counter-cultural approach to conflict that helps us fight the right battles in the right way with the right definition of victory.
Some men in the church get swept up with the false teachings and empty promises of culture, while others cleanse themselves to be set apart for a purpose. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, we see three things we need to do to stay clean in a dirty world.
Paul tells Timothy to do his best as a worker, advice that also applies to us as Christian men. Yet, when it comes to transferring spiritual wisdom to younger men, there’s a great labor shortage. Here’s why you’re uniquely qualified to solve this problem.
Paul wanted Timothy to remember and build his life around Jesus Christ. So who is Jesus? A moral teacher? A prophet? A legend? And why does it matter? Those answers formed the core of Christianity then, and they still form the core of our faith today.
I’ve never met a man who doesn’t want spiritual insight. Yet, we often miss the spiritual connections that are present in the common details of everyday life. How can we crack the shell that separates the physical and spiritual worlds, and why does it matter?
It’s clear that Paul expected Timothy to experience suffering, and we are no different. The scriptures talk about WHEN we meet trials of various kinds, not IF. How then should we prepare and train so that when trials come, we are able to endure hardship?
Jesus told the disciples it’s not that men don’t want to meet Him. It’s that there aren’t enough men to make a credible introduction. In Paul’s plan for Timothy to safeguard and spread the gospel of Jesus, we see how we are entrusted to make the connection.
In our culture, we desire autonomy, and self-determination and self-reliance are some of our highest ideals. But eventually, every man comes to the end of himself. When you find yourself drowning, what’s your next move? And importantly, what is God’s?
While in chains, Paul wrote to Timothy about men turning their backs on him. But he also reminded him of the power of having a true friend in hard times. How do we leave fair-weather friendship behind, and why is it critical to our lives as disciples?
Recently I visited an 82-year-old friend from the past. He was feeling low. When we finally got down to why, it was this: he had lost his sense of purpose. How does that happen, and how can we make sure it doesn’t happen to us? He had run out of “spiritual oxygen.”
Paul spent more than a decade with Timothy as brothers, co-laborers, and, in a spiritual sense, father and son. He had permission to speak freely into his life. The truth Paul shared with him about hope, suffering, and shame impacts us and our relationships in profound ways…
Since 1986, Man in the Mirror has worked with more than 35,000 churches and millions of men with the goal of seeing every man reflect honestly, pursue God wholeheartedly, and live vibrantly. To this end, we equip Christian men around the world to engage in meaningful relationships that change lives and build the kingdom of God.
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