Parents always want what’s best for their kids.
If you’re a parent, that’s obvious. If you’re not, maybe not quite as obvious. But it’s true. The best care, the best education, the best job, the best spouse, the best life. So it hurts Christian parents to hear that life won’t be easy for their children because of their faith.
The Apostle Paul didn’t have kids of his own, but he considered a young man named Timothy his child in the faith. He knew Timothy’s life and ministry as a young pastor wouldn’t be easy, so he wrote him a letter. This letter was realistic about life’s challenges, and it encouraged Timothy to hold fast to the treasures of faith and God’s Word no matter what happened. Timothy would do this not just because he loved Paul, but because of what God’s Word is able to do: make you wise for salvation. The Bible gives us faith in Jesus as the Savior from sin who lived, died, and rose for us, and who still walks beside us each day through the passages and promises of those Holy Scriptures.
Parents always want what’s best for their kids in this life. But it’s even more important for parents to want what’s best for their kids in the next life.
Continue to teach them God’s love by word and example.. Keep them in the Word of God. Fan into flame the gift of faith God’s given them. And know that whatever happens in this life, their eternity is secure in Jesus.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. – 2 Timothy 3:14-15
Family Challenge
It only takes 10-15 minutes to read or listen to all of 2 Timothy. Do that this week!
Parents: Read or listen through Paul’s parental lens.
Kids: Read or listen with Timothy’s youthful perspective.
Then answer these questions:
What does God convict us of in this letter?
What does he lead us to be thankful for?
What does he lead us to pray about?
