I was led to read from the start of 1 Timothy this morning and stopped when I read verse 2.
Paul spoke about Timothy being his son in the faith and that led me back to a conversation I had at conference recently.
A dear sister I met there was talking about the need for people to have a “father in the faith”.
Now you may be thinking, “But Vic, we have a Father; Father God”, and that is true but I am talking about father as in the way Paul was writing.
He said Timothy was his son in the faith, and that implies that he was his father.
As a pastor I have been challenged the last couple of days about being more of a father to those believers who will keep hearing what I preach and teach.
I have also been greatly encouraged in the last few days by those that I believe to be my fathers in the faith.
We all need fathers and many of us can be fathers; we can be a son and father at the same time.
We are all on a journey in this Christian life, all at different stages in the understanding and expression of our faith, and those “older” than us can encourage us and at the same time we can be an encouragement to “younger” saints.
I thank God for my fathers in the faith, and I also hope and pray that I can be a better father to those I have been commissioned to lead.
Have you thanked God for your fathers lately?
Have you looked for the opportunity to be a father in the faith?
One of our roles in church is to encourage and exhort, that sounds like the role of a father in the faith (Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25).
Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for my fathers in the faith and thank you for the opportunity to encourage and exhort others”.
1 Timothy 1 v 2…..Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our God
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