We have been doing a biographical study of the life of Timothy. We started by collecting information about his life from the New Testament and then correlated it into an outline in the form of an historical sketch of his life. The third step in this study would be to crystallize what was learned into some applications to one’s own life.
I will wait on this, because I would like to take the same information gathered and develop an outline that would focus on developing a character portrait. The former focus was on what he did. This would focus on who he was.
When I reflected on the material we collected on his life I came up with the following points highlighting his character: he was well grounded, growing, genuine, gracious and godly. Let’s take time to capture the details of this portrait.
He was well grounded in that from infancy he had learned the Old Testament scriptures from a mother and grandmother who loved them. This set the stage for his conversion when Paul and Barnabas came to his home town Lystra to preach the gospel on their first missionary journey. Paul writes of this in 1st Timothy 6:12, “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Paul reminded him that it was the scriptures he had been taught from infancy that made him wise unto salvation. This was followed by life in the fledgling church that developed following Paul’s visit. By the time Paul returned he had a good reputation. The brothers there spoke well of him.
And he was well on his way to becoming the man God used in such a powerful way.
