Thoughts for the Day

Remind the faithful of this, and warn them before God, that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. Avoid profane chatter, for it will lead people into more and more impiety, and their talk will spread like gangrene....among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth...they are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this inscription: 'The Lord knows those who are his', and, 'Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.'

Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone.

Thoughts

The first and second letters to Timothy and that of Titus have been called 'The Pastoral Epistles'. In the past century discussion there has been discussion as to whether they were actually written by St Paul, or by one of his students at a later date because of different styles. Whether this is so or not, the second letter purports to be written just before Paul's death at the hands of the Emperor Nero who descending into madness needed some group to blame for the terrible fire that burnt down half of Rome in AD 64, and chose the Christians as his preferred scapegoats.

The letter is addressed to Timothy, who served with Paul for over ten years and who travelled with him on two of his missionary journeys to places like Philippi and Corinth. Paul writes to Timothy who is settled in Ephesus, to encourage him in his work. He knows how difficult things can get, and in the first letter he speaks of 'fighting the good fight', but in this letter he speaks of himself as having 'fought the good fight' and 'kept the faith' (see 2 Timothy 4.7). We should remember today that while Paul and Timothy face the difficulties that we all face, of how to avoid falling into temptation and committing sin, they also face the almost continuous likelihood of being killed by those who disagree with them. May we shun all disagreements, now allowing them to get out of control.

Lord God,
You called Timothy to live in faith, love and peace,
and to shun all 'senseless controversies'.
May we too avoid the controversies on social media;
avoid gossip and loose talk;
and learn to live in love and peace with all people.
Amen.