How Two Women Trained a Man of God

Timothy had known the Scriptures since his childhood. The faith of his mother and grandmother constantly reminded him of the blessing in doing God’s will. The lessons he had received from them kept him pure in speech and free from the evil influences that surrounded him. In this way his home instructors had cooperated with God in preparing him to work for the Lord.ULe 76.6

Paul saw that Timothy was firm in his faith, and he chose him as a companion in labor and travel. Timothy’s mother and grandmother, who had taught him in childhood, were rewarded by seeing him linked with the great apostle. Even though Timothy was only a youth, he was prepared to take his place as Paul’s helper. He was young, but he carried his responsibilities with Christian meekness.ULe 77.1

Paul wisely advised Timothy to be circumcised in order to remove from the minds of the Jews a possible objection to Timothy’s ministry. If it became known that one of Paul’s companions was uncircumcised, prejudice and bigotry might stand in the way of his work. He wanted to bring a knowledge of the gospel to the Jews as well as to Gentiles, so he tried to remove every excuse for opposition. Yet while he yielded this much to Jewish prejudice, he believed and taught that circumcision or uncircumcision was nothing, and the gospel of Christ everything.ULe 77.2

Paul loved Timothy, his “own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2, KJV). As they traveled, he carefully taught him how to do successful work, to deepen his sense of the sacred nature of the gospel minister’s work.ULe 77.3

Timothy constantly turned to Paul for advice and instruction. He exercised sound judgment and calm thought, asking at every step, Is this the way of the Lord? The Holy Spirit recognized him as someone who could be molded and fashioned into a temple for the divine Presence to dwell in.ULe 77.4

Timothy had no especially brilliant talents, but his genuine walk with God gave him influence. Those who try to win others for Christ must throw all their energies into the work. They must take firm hold of God, daily receiving grace and power.ULe 77.5

Before moving on into new territory, Paul and his companions visited the churches in Pisidia and the surrounding regions. “They delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.”ULe 77.6

The apostle Paul felt a deep responsibility for those converted through his work. He knew that preaching alone was not enough to educate the believers to share the word of life. He knew that bit by bit, here a little and there a little, they must be taught to move forward in the work of Christ.ULe 77.7

Whenever people refuse to use their God-given powers, these powers decay. Truth that is not lived, that is not shared, loses its life-giving power, its healing vitality. Paul’s knowledge, his eloquence, his miracles, would all mean nothing if those for whom he labored failed to receive the grace of God because he had not been faithful in his work. And so he pleaded with those who had accepted Christ to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, ... holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:15, 16, NRSV).ULe 77.8

Every true minister feels a heavy responsibility for the believers entrusted to his care, to help them become laborers together with God. To a large degree, the well-being of the church depends on his work. Earnestly he tries to inspire believers to win others to Christ, remembering that every person added to the church should be one more agency for carrying out the plan of redemption.ULe 78.1