Confidently Sent

“For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.”

I Corinthians 4:17

 

What a wonderful testimony concerning Timothy.

He was loved, he was faithful, he was able to remind the church in Corinth of Paul’s way of life in Christ Jesus.

Paul trusted Timothy to be a good ambassador of Christ and of himself.

I want to be that way for others as well.

How about you?

Do you want to be a reliable, faithful servant to those with whom you minister?

Do you want to be sent confidently by those who are sending you?

Of course you do.

We talked previously about accountability and submission.

Those are two vital traits for any believer and certainly would have been needed in Timothy’s life as well.

The kind of trust that Paul had in Timothy likely came after many shared trials and tribulations.

Timothy had proven himself faithful, perhaps even in situations where others deserted Paul and the mission Christ had sent him on.

Timothy had to believe that not only did God have a call on his life but that He also had a call on Paul’s life and he needed to be able to submit to the authority of Paul.

That was part of the relationship building and trust that God was establishing so that when the time came Paul could confidently pen the words you read above concerning his son in the faith.

We do not live out our call of God in a vacuum.

It is an individual call but it can only happen through accountability, submission, connection and relationship to the God who calls but also to those who has placed alongside us.

Don’t ever try to ‘go it alone’.

If you do you will not walk out your call, you will be headed for a fall!