Human Pretzels

“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

  

In the verse above Paul tells the church at Corinth that he is sending them Timothy and says of him:

“...He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.”

Even as he wrote that sentence in the letter to the church Paul was ever the teacher.

Without necessarily spelling it out, Paul was speaking of integrity.  

We might say it this way:

Timothy will remind you that my walk matches my talk.

That was not ide boasting on Paul’s part but the truth and the church at Corinth knew that!

Paul was simply saying that what he taught matched how he lived.

He did not tell them to – Do as I say, not as I do!

When people teach or declare one thing and then live the opposite of what they teach, they become human pretzels seeking to justify the discrepancy with some twisted, convoluted excuse they deem as a legitimate reason.

Paul’s way of life and teaching did not conflict.

Timothy would be there to remind them of that.

They should be imitators of Paul even as he was of Christ.

That remains valid counsel to each of us today.