God Speaking

“To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1 Timothy 1:2)

Our family has had a very special time this month celebrating and welcoming visiting relatives and as we gathered together I began to feel my age as I looked around the room and discovered I no longer had any little girls as granddaughters I was now surrounded by young women who were beginning to make their way in the world. As I looked at their fresh young faces I wondered what wisdom I could pass on to them from what I had learnt through the years. My special place to find any sort of wisdom is always Scripture and I began to search to see how wiser elders than me, instructed the young.

The Book of Proverbs quickly comes to mind as King Solomon decided to write down very wise words on living, for his son, and this advice is timeless and still relevant today and he gives the reason for writing the words down;

“For giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young” (Proverbs 1:4)

But as I was pursuing my goal, I began to read Paul’s letters, especially to young Timothy, who he fondly calls “his true son in the faith” and I was struck by the way Paul began the letter and these three words stood out for me

GRACE

MERCY

PEACE

I discovered that Paul frequently used these words in writing to fellow believers and I thought this is the wisdom I would like my young loved ones to be blessed with.

Firstly, GRACE

Paul is really saying have your life filled with grace. This grace will come from the Heavenly Father, allow his grace to be evident in the way you live. Be compassionate and be filled with graciousness, don’t let anger spoil any relationship. Be faithful in love. This is the example to follow;

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands…” (Exodus 34:6)

Secondly, MERCY

Allowing mercy to permeate one’s life leads to a beautiful acceptance of others and their failings, without condemnation or judgement and again the example is our loving Creator who is so merciful to us when we fail. When we realise how merciful he is to us it allows us to be merciful to those around us.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)

 

Thirdly, PEACE

We read a lot about “peacekeepers” in our present world of unrest, but the Bible has a more direct approach and we are urged to be “peacemakers.” Actively seeking to heal broken relationships, misunderstandings, strife between neighbours, any discord between believers. Striving to quash gossip before it brings about division. Blessings flow from trying to do this as we hear the whisper, “You truly are my child.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

So after reading the wise advice in God’s word, I decided that Paul’s blessing for the young summed up what I would pray for my young adults. I would pray that they strive to lead a life filled with grace, a life characterised by mercy, and a life reflecting that beautiful peace that comes from knowing the all-encompassing love of the Heavenly Father.