“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:5-7
In many cases, faith is passed from one generation to another. I find it interesting to ask, how did such faith gets passed on from grandmothers to mother to son?
Our default may be to say that the preceding generations made sure that the son went to “church.” That reasoning fails to inspire me. The kind of faith presumed to trust God and follow Jesus, is so energetic that it cannot be put upon others as a first course of action.
Indeed, the admonition to Timothy that follows reveals divine expectation from Paul. He could expect that Timothy would remember who he was, what he was called to and that these would build “power, love and self-control over the span of his life. The expectations were not low!!
Comments