“You’ve Got It In You”
2 Timothy 1:13-14
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lutheranhour.org.
Stir up the good gifts of God deposited within you. Fan them into a flame. You’ve got it in you, but remember, you didn’t put it there. It’s pure gift. These words of wisdom were from an older missionary named Paul and the recipient of the letter was his much-loved mentee named Timothy.
God deeply desires to be up to something good in everyone’s life. Because God’s love possesses saving power for everyone, radiating from the cross of Jesus, overflowing with forgiveness and wholeness. God doesn’t want to lose anyone along this sin-strewn jigsaw path of life. God is in pursuit of everyone with his goodness and mercy. But this is far from meaning that humans are basically good. We have more personal and social problems than we can solve.
How did the ancient prophet Habakkuk express it: legal systems seem paralyzed; injustice seems to have won; justice is unavailable to those who need it the most. “Destruction and violence are everywhere,” Habakkuk cries out with a defiant shout of lament. And that’s why we need to look beyond ourselves, and beyond what’s within us, beyond political prescriptions for peace.
The psalmist redirects us. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him” (Psalm 62:5). The answer is not found within you nor within anything human. Look to God alone. He alone deposits in us the hope we need. God is the ultimate hope dealer through the Holy Scriptures, which plants hope in our hearts, and through the blessed Sacrament, which places that same saving hope on our tongues. Christ within you in bread and wine, and you and I are beggars for these treasures.
Yes, God has had a life-plan for you since “before the ages” Paul tells Timothy and us in 2 Timothy 1:9. You can find the answer in Christ Jesus. Because of His persistent, consistent investment of love for you. You’ve got it in you.
We Pray:
Thank You, dear Father, for never giving up on me, for forgiving me, and for giving me gifts of grace through the merits and the mercy of the Lord Jesus.
Amen.
Written by Dr. John Nunes.
Reflection Questions:
1. Think of someone who passed on the faith to you. Give thanks to God for their life and their sacrifice.
2. Human love will fail. How has the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord proven itself to be persistent and consistent in your life?
3. What gifts has the Holy Spirit deposited into your life that you need to spend more time curating and developing?
Today’s Bible in a Year Reading:
Isaiah 47-49; Romans 9:1-15