WEDNESDAY June 4, 2025
The Manifold Grace of God
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:1
Paul gave us a bigger picture of the Christian minister––a true minister of Christ needed to be strong in the grace that is only found in Christ Jesus. Paul had no sons, but He had a love for Timothy, and he addressed him as “my son.” I like that. He was a son in the faith. What faith? The Christian faith.
As a father, Paul trained Timothy for ministry. His exhortation to “his son” was to be strong––not weak or timid. Timothy was to become bold. He was to stand up for Jesus as an unashamed Christian. The only way to do that was through the power of the indwelling Spirit and through the grace of God––the unmerited favor of God working in and through him.
One thing that is evident in my life is the grace of God. The unmerited favor of God, which you and I do not deserve, is working effectively through us. We have become stewards of this grace which means our God-given gifts and talents are to be fully used in the ministry:
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).
Going back to our verse in 2 Timothy 2:1, notice that grace is in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? As Christians, we are now in Christ, not apart from Him. The Holy Spirit has come and dwells within us. Through grace and the Spirit’s power, we serve our Savior, our Lord, our Master––the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, forevermore.
Use your every grace. Stir up the gift of God that is in you. Be zealous. Be active. According to your strength, speak for God wherever you are. But in the meantime, be humble! Let all that mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
~John Wesley~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
