II Timothy 2:24 ”And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves: if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”
“Talk is cheap,” is a phrase all of us have heard and most of us have used; but sometimes talk can be very expensive. The book of Proverbs tells us that ”a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver,” but anything said with the right motive but using the wrong method has the potential to bring disaster to any relationship, family, or ministry. It is our urgent responsibility to be engaged in helping those who aren’t doing well spiritually to recover themselves out of the snare of the enemy! But before we can effectively bring restoration and recovery to those within the sphere of our influence, we must have a pure motive coupled with a personable method, or we will drive them away before we can help them.
As servants of the Lord, our primary purpose is reaching the lost with gospel of salvation. Our secondary purpose is rescuing fellow believers from the traps and bondage of the enemy. Our tongues are to be used as instruments of righteousness to declare the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ, but our words are not to be used as weapons of war. ”The servant of the Lord must not strive…” (II Timothy 2:24.) To strive means “to go to war, to be in contention, to dispute, to fight, to argue.” No one moved people to do things like Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:19.) Though He was a master motivator, He avoided striving with the Pharisees on many occasions, ”leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps” (I Peter 2:21.) Nothing that glorifies God, edifies believers, or benefits families is ever accomplished by arguing! …. continued tomorrow
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