Day 17…1 Timothy 1:18-19

"Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.”

Notes from the devotional:

• Every man should seek to have three individuals in his life: a Paul, a Barnabus, and a Timothy,
• A Paul is an older man who is willing to mentor you, to build into your life.Not someone smarter or more gifted than you, but someone who’s willing to share his strengths and weaknesses and everything he’s learned in the laboratory of life. Someone’s whose faith you’ll want to imitate.
• A Barnabus is a soul brother, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable – willing to keep you honest.
• A Timothy is a younger man into whose life you are building – affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing, praying.

My notes:

• Wow. I guess this goes back to my thoughts on an accountability partner. I don’t really fit into any of these roles for anyone around me, and I don’t really feel like anyone is filling those roles for me.
• It just goes to show you how much of a spiritual island men are in our world. No wonder we all struggle so much with anything from substance abuse to pornography to gambling to workaholism to infidelity to aggression to whatever else you can think of.
• These recent passages are making me look at relationships with my buddies in a different light. And that’s a good thing.

Personal challenge:

• Can you be a Paul – a spiritual mentor – to someone else? Ask God to keep you open to this.

~~from Men of Integrity: A Daily Guide to the Bible and Prayer (1999)~~