What Does 2 Timothy 1:1-10 Mean to me?
For me, this passage of scripture decisively relays that God speaks to and uses a family to minister one to another. This God ordained call and responsibility to the family is why it so important for whole families to be grounded in Christian faith and discipleship. A family’s Godly heritage is always significant in reaching the next generations as they pass on what Gad has called them to be and do. Children and grandchildren are influenced by the example of their “mothers’ and grandmothers”: the past generations of those who have practiced sincere faith and a new generation coming to realize the persuasion of that faith also resides in them and is there for them to take the step to with Christ to make it personally their own. It is like the difference between mentally understanding the idea of Christian faith and knowing and owning that faith because it is familiar and personal. Timothy recognized that he had faith because he had seen the faith passed down through generations to him, it was familiar and real to him. He understood the truth of the gospel because he had seen it operating in the lives of his mother and grandmother. Often times first-generation Christians struggle so much with self-doubt. They become paralyzed in their relationship with the Lord because they have no generational history in the Lord to draw upon. That is why the church must be wise to disciple, mentor and rally support through teaching and prayer for new converts to the Christian faith. But just as strongly I also believe it’s true to the Word that God meets each and every person where they are in their walk of faith and will prepare a way for them to grow and mature in their faith; however, there is still something exceptional about passing down through generations the love, anointing and ministry of God. Paul encourages Timothy to be strong in his faith and to remember the commitment he has to God, a commitment that goes generations back in his family. I believe, in this passage of scripture, God is showing Timothy that he is part of a call on his family just as we see strong love for the Lord and ministries being handed down today from parents to children. We see this same principle at work here in Timothy’s life. But also, Paul realizes that Timothy is young and all through the book of Timothy Paul is encouraging him to put away childish things , to “grow up” and strive for maturity in the Lord. Timothy is encouraged to be faithful in his public ministry and to demonstrate that faithfulness and maturity in his personal life. This same principle is true when we talk about how a family needs to come together in a unified relationship with the Lord in the home. If we want our young people to be strong in their relationship with the Lord we must incorporate teaching throughout the church family of the necessary influence and example a Christian home foundation has in passing on faith to following generations. The responsibility of family member to minister one to another is priority because God can always find someone else for any other responsibility but family ministry can only be done by family members. Even church ministry will never be as effective as the perception of Christ and the adherence to the faith that is taught in the home. Ideally, the family has to both minister and receive ministry as one entity if we are going to see generational ministry take place. Paul encourages Timothy to rekindle a freshness in his faith and the gift of God that is within him, apparent because of the faith and mercy God has shown his family. It is our responsibility as part of the family of God, to encourage this in the parents of our young people and in the lives of our youth. Too often the church wants to segment ministry into sections by age or interest to more comfortably minister to a particular subset of the family. I’m not saying that this is wrong, but it must be tempered with teaching and ministry to the family as a unit. I believe it is through this approach the family will live a victorious life unashamed of their relationship with the Lord because they experience it as the strength and glue and common ground of the family. As we minister to young people at their level and need we also need to be about encouraging the family to live out the truths of the Gospel so that they can draw their strength an hope from their relationship and walk with the Lord
