2 Timothy 2:22

“Like a Little Child?”

(2 Timothy 2:22, August 7, 2011)

22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

22 So flee youthful passions

The teaching of God on the wisdom of being like a little child is complicated. On one hand, Jesus says wonderful things like these:

Matthew 18:3 “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

So we know that we need to trust God as his little children, as a little baby will trust what he cannot yet understand. On the other hand, we have this warning from another of Paul's letters, urging us to “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

There is a quality normal to the toddler or the youth that we need to move beyond. We cannot believe everything. We need to grow up in our faith, and in our understanding of what it means to walk with God, so that we will be able to lead someone else in the way of truth and love. We have to experience some of life in order to understand this better.

Here Paul urges Timothy to flee youthful passions. Discernment is required here. Energy and passion are gifts of God. Yet not everything that energizes is good. Some passions associated with being a young adult need not only to be avoided. Men and women need to run away from them. God has a way of teaching us these lessons in the normal rhythms of a life well-lived if we are willing to yield to His gentle hand.

and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,

We do have some energy, and we have something to do with that energy that God gives us. We do want to become more like the Lord. We want to raise children, nurture churches, and care for the weak. By the strength that is there for you in the wounds of the Righteous One, by the power of the Man who always walked by faith, by the committed emotions of the God of Love who gave His life for you and brought you heavenly peace, do what Paul tells Timothy to do. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Do this with others alongside you, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Then you will not walk alone. Jesus, and all who are His little children, will be with you.