Responding to evil - 2 Timothy 2:24-26

2 Timothy 2:24-25 (ESV)

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

As our world grows increasingly immoral, where good is called evil and evil is called good, how is a believer in Jesus Christ to live? The last paragraph of 2 Timothy 2 speaks to this question. It lays out several principles. 1. Do not be quarrelsome. 2. Be kind to everyone. 3. Know what you believe and why you believe it so that you are able to teach it when the opportunity arises. 4. Correct those who oppose you with gentleness, not anger, violence, or loud protests. 5. Remember that no one is beyond repentance. 6. Understand that repentance does not immediately change a person's perspective. Repentance leads to a knowledge of the truth, but that takes time. 7. Remember that those who oppose you are not the enemy. They are ensnared by the Enemy. Pray that they would “come to their senses” (2 Tim 2:26). Seven principles in three verses that change everything about how Christians live, respond, and reach out in a broken world that is opposed to what they believe. What if we actually lived that way? How might that impact our world?

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