REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Christine Li, was first posted on February 19, 2017. Christine, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, serves as a deaconess at Remnant Church in Manhattan, New York.  

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Pauls and Timothys”

1 Corinthians 4:16-17 

Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 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.

Once, at a family gathering, my brother and I were telling a story, when suddenly our relatives burst out laughing. Since we hadn’t been saying anything particularly funny, they had to explain why they laughed: “Just now, both you talked just like your dad—you gestured wildly with your hands!” He wasn’t present, but unbeknownst to us, we channeled his mannerisms so strongly that, at least for the moment, we were carbon copies of him to our relatives. 

Here, Paul takes advantage of a similar relationship; he plans to send Timothy, his disciple, to continue his work in the Corinthian church and to be a model for the church. Timothy was not only a student of Paul’s teaching; he was a student of Paul’s way of life. And because Paul invested so much into Timothy’s life, he was confident that Timothy would be a faithful representative, fully trained in all the things Paul wanted to impart.

As family in Christ, we too can have this type of influence on one another, and we should be actively partaking in this aspect of God’s work. We are meant to be Pauls for each other, intentionally meeting up with others and discipling them through our actions and lifestyle. We also are meant to be Timothys, learning from others and shaping our lives in alignment with those good examples.

The road to both discipleship relationships requires two things – first, we should ask God to govern over our lives so there is something good for others to take away. Second, we should ask Him for the means to actively engage with others so that we can be propelled towards Christ. 

When we go to church today, let’s be on the lookout, not just for general fellowship, but brothers and sisters who we can grow with and actively shape us. I believe that God is very much in favor of us making disciples of one another, and He will surely appoint brothers and sisters around us to help us. As we continue to learn things from one another, He will use us to become Pauls and Timothys for each another.

Prayer: Father, thank You for making Yourself known to us individually and that You have set good examples around us. Help me to be teachable and to learn from others; help me to propel others wisely and patiently around me, too. Teach us how to fulfill Your Great Commission by making disciples of all the nations. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Hosea 8