the timothys

for the majority of the time i've lived in kansas city, i've been a part of a really great bible study. we're kind of a random group, but i love it just the same. our game plan is simple, pick a book of the bible and study it in chapters and/or chunks until we're done. we usually jump around from old testament to new testament to keep things interesting. every time we finish one my friend joy comes up with an amazing acrostic to summarize what we've learned. [we're now on a mission to finish the whole thing so she can publish a book of them!] she's inspired me to make an effort to keep track of the things i've learned in our study and discussions.

we just finished up both first and second timothy and as we talked through it together it reminded us of things we had learned last summer studying ecclesiastes. that christianity isn't as hard as we try to make it sometimes with our lists of dos and don'ts. it's as simple as being who you are, wherever the Lord puts you, and letting people see jesus in you.

paul is encouraging timothy to simply live his life in front of others. to show jesus to others by who he is. but following that instruction doesn't mean we have to have it all together first. it's okay to let people see all of us; the good, the bad and the ugly. our failures are part of the gospel story. after all, if we had any chance of being "good enough" on our own, what need would we have of a savior?

at the end of first timothy paul tells us to "go after God...to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous". which is simple, and not-so-simple, all at once. but it encourages me to know that i don't have to worry about saying or doing just the right thing at just the right time to share the most important thing in my life with the people around me. i can just be me. if i'm following jesus, people are going to get to know him when they get to know me.

and that's what i learned from the timothys.