I love being surrounded in my life by other followers of Jesus Christ. It is fellowship with those that love the Ultimate God of Love that makes my soul sing. A friend reminded me today of a verse that sums up my goal of this blog. :) In addition to just the verse she mentioned I have added below the rest of the passage. It gives me great strength and courage to know that there is a purpose for this and my life.
1 Timothy 4:12 (NKJV)
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
I am a great believer in reading around passages that have been brought to me. I think it's something that a youth group leader suggested to me once. Knowing the background of a verse by reading the preceding paragraph or chapter can shine a lot of insight on the specific verse, and may even change the whole meaning. I would encourage you to do this on your own. Don't just take my word for what the Bible says! (Not that the meaning is changed or anything in this passage, I am just happy to have discovered the rest of it. smile Again, thank you, Christy!)
1 Timothy 4:12-16 NKJV
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (13) Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (14) Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with he laying on of the hands of the eldership. (15) Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to them, that your progress may be evident to all. (16) Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1 Timothy 4:12-16 NIV
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (13) Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. (14) Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
(15) Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see you progress. (16) Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
I have been blessed today. It's amazing how God can work in our lives if we are open to Him. I'm not even sure if I can describe what has changed in me in the last 15 minutes, but I'll do my best.
Even though I have no idea why it is God has called me to write this blog, I will do it in obedience to Him. I may be young, but that's nothing to beat myself up about. I may be uneducated in almost every sense of the word, but still I will press on. I don't know that I'm setting any sort of example like verse 12 talks about, but I will continue to strive to live my life for Jesus. I'm just a small town girl who doesn't know what she's supposed to do with her life. Well, that's not the whole truth. Right now, I am completely confident that my one job is to love Yahweh. What else can I really do?
I think verses 13-16 struck such a chord in me because I don't know what I should be doing with my life. If I end up transferring schools next fall, I now know for sure that there is no shame in devoting my time there to studying scripture. Although Paul was writing to Timothy here, verse 11 of chapter 4 specifically says, "Command and teach these things." (in the NIV) and "These things command and teach." (in the NKJV).
The truth is that Jesus Christ is coming back someday soon. When I stand before the Great White Throne to be judged like it talks about in Revelation chapter 20, I want to be ready to say that I did my best while living on this earth. I believe that my name is already written in the Book of Life, and I believe that I will live in eternity with my Lord and Savior. Do you have that assurance?
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