2 TIMOTHY 3
10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
– 2 Timothy 3:10-17
2 TIMOTHY 3 GODLY PEOPLE WILL SUFFER & BE PERSECUTED
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, you were given his Spirit
Because the Spirit lives in you, you will have strength for adversities
Expect suffering and persecution as you serve the Lord
His promise is to be with you so you can overcome the world
He didn’t offer a life of convenience but a life of dependence on him
Because Jesus has overcome the world, you will have triumph over sin.
In this letter of Paul to his spiritual son Timothy, he reminds him to teach the believers in his church that with their commitment to serve the Lord, they also have to expect that they will face suffering and persecution. This may sound so weird to the unbeliever who might say that it doesn’t make sense to be a Christian when they will suffer and be persecuted. That is precisely the difference of the God that we believe in. He is sacrificial unlike other little gods who are high and mighty up there. God himself sacrificed his only Begotten Son, Jesus to die on a cross so that he can wipe out the wrath that the people deserved after they sinned against him. He knew that humans cannot save themselves from his wrath, so he gave the solution in the sacrifice of his own son to be the payment for our sins. He provided the way out for us. So, it actually makes sense that he allows suffering and persecution for his people because it is the way for them to be sanctified and purified. God requires his people to be holy since he is a holy God and we can only do that if we go to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and repent of our sins.
In verse 11, Paul gives testimony how God allowed him to endure the sufferings he underwent in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. He knew that he can’t do it without the Spirit of the Lord allowing him to endure such hardships and persecutions. God also equipped us with the word of God so we can be guided, comforted and corrected whenever we lose our direction.
REFLECTION
· How can we see suffering in the light of this explanation of Paul to Timothy in verses 11-13?
