2 TIMOTHY 2:24-26

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

TO PONDER

In my mid-thirties, I was involved for a while with a para-Christian group. One of their activities was a yearly conference which would usually include an evening devoted to a debate with invited atheists and sceptics. Needless to say, these evenings would be quite lively.  At the end of the evening when the attendees left there would usually be a review of the evening and an assessment of who won the debates. I doubt if anyone ever changed their mind as the result of attending the debates. Maybe the organisers of these debates should have taken the advice of the apostle Paul to young Timothy.

A very interesting book I read recently was “How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being THAT Guy)” by Australian author Sam Chan (available from shopACR.com.au). Sam explains that people become inquisitive about following Jesus when they see the impact of Jesus on his existing followers: their natural serenity, security, trust and joy.

When we wear the badge of Christian, we become ambassadors for Jesus, demonstrating by the way we speak and do things that we have the transforming power of our God working in us. In one sense, this is what others are looking for – a power outside themselves that brings the freedom and healing that they are looking for, and only Jesus can give to them.

The good news for us is that we can stop trying to be the people God wants us to be, and rather surrender our lives to God’s transforming power and let him change us to be his witnesses.

PRAYER: Loving Father, I’ve been trying to be a good witness of your love and regularly fail.  I give myself to you to change me into the person you want me to be. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping