At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 

Imagine getting to the end of your life and saying that. Saying I had done what I was supposed to do. I left it all on the field of life. I kept the faith. I ran my race.

But how does that happen? How do you and I get to where we can say that?

Much of 2 Timothy is Paul telling Timothy (and us) how to make that truth true in our lives.

In chapter 2, he tells us three things that are true of a person who can say that: they are approved by God, they are pure, and they are servants.

Approved by God

A follower of Jesus is approved in God by God. As a follower of Jesus, God cannot more approve you than you are, and you don’t need any more approval than you have. Paul tells us that a follower of Jesus, a worker approved by God, is not ashamed and rightly handles the truth of God’s word.

We shy away from risk, passion, and what God has called us to because we worry about what other people think. This is why we don’t share our faith, aren’t generous, don’t serve, take chances, or we sit on the sidelines—we care what others think more than the God who created us.

How do we know?

In verse 19 of chapter 2, Paul tells us that God knows who belongs to him.

This verse has always blown me away. God knows who belongs to him. 

Pure

Paul says in a house, there is gold and silver for special use, honorable use, and some things made for dishonorable use. God uses those who are holy, set apart, different, and clean.

This is purity the way we often think of purity, but it is more than that. 

This is connected to our motives and why we do the things we do. 

Why we make the decisions we make. 

Do we do what we do to please and honor God or to please and honor those around us? 

One of the themes in 2 Timothy is Paul’s statement that he has lived his life without regrets and has a clear conscience. This doesn’t mean there aren’t things in your past you wish had never happened. Before following Jesus, Paul was a terrorist and a murderer. But because of what Jesus did, he was made clean.

It does mean that the truth of the gospel changes us. 

Here is a truth that is often hard to remember: When God looks at you as a follower of Jesus, he doesn’t see you standing there in your sin; he sees Jesus standing in front of you, saying, “He’s mine. She’s mine.”

Servant

When we think of a servant, we think of someone who opens a door, maybe a meek and quiet person standing in the corner, or maybe even a doormat in a relationship.

That’s not what Paul is talking about.

He returns to holiness and says, “A servant flees youthful passions.”

This can mean a whole host of sins, but he focuses on things we do when we are young.

This might mean if you are 40, act 40, not 22.

Stop bouncing from relationship to relationship.

Stop bouncing from job to job and be a hard worker who provides.

Stop giving your heart and body away.

Stop having silly arguments on the internet. 

Instead, pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Purity. God’s servants should be known for these things. They don’t get caught up in controversies and quarrels.

But you might say, “I’m an arguer. I love a good debate.” A follower of Jesus should not be known as an arguer or an angry person. Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

A follower of Jesus should not be someone no one wants to work with or can’t get along with. If you struggle to keep friends or work well with people, at some point, it has to stop being them and start being you.

An immature follower of Jesus loves to sit around and debate theology and end-of-the-world beliefs, not to learn and grow but to win and be right. Not so with God’s servants as they mature and grow. They learn, grow, and ask questions, but they don’t argue theology to win and be right.

He goes on…

The Lord’s servant is not quarrelsome, is not a fighter, an arguer. We don’t argue people into the kingdom of heaven or beat them down with Facebook posts; we love them into the kingdom.

We don’t argue about stirring controversy, gossip, or trying to split churches apart. 

The Lord’s servant is kind to everyone (even those they disagree with). If we asked people in our lives, those we disagree with their political or religious beliefs, would they say we are kind to them in our disagreement?

The Lord’s servant can teach. This doesn’t mean preaching or standing in front of people but being able to communicate what they know of the gospel.

When you share the gospel, you say, “I was once lost, but now I’m found. I was once broken, but now I’m set free.”

Why does this matter?

The people who matter most determine a lot in our lives. How our spouses, parents, teachers, or coaches look at us can give us enormous confidence or take away our confidence. The same is true with God. If we believe God sees us as approved, pure, accepted, and loved, that will determine how we live. But, if we think God is disappointed in us or sees us as unloveable, that will also impact how we live and where we end up.