1 Timothy 1:1-2

So I'm studying the Pastoral Letters this summer- 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. We focused for a long time this past week on 1 Timothy 1:1-2. That's right- just the greeting. You wouldn't believe how much is packed into just those two little verses that you and I both probably skim through quickly to get to the good stuff.
The part I want to focus on in this blog post is not even a whole verse. Nope. Paul addresses his letter "To Timothy my true son in the faith:" That sentence fragment has a lot going on. I knew Timothy had a Jewish mom and a Greek dad. What I didn't understand until this week was the weight of that situation in Timothy's life. See, here he was in Ephesus, left there by Paul to minister to the church on his own, and his heritage resulted in people seeing him as an illegitimate child. He was biracial. The Jewish people haven't been too crazy about that situation either!
So Paul was confirming to Timothy and whoever else would be reading or hearing this letter, that while Timothy's earthly parents weren't what the Jews would consider legitimate, Paul was his father spiritually speaking. And let's face it, that give Timothy a ton of credibility- don't you think?!
Anyway- I love learning little things like this, and then reading the book over again with a new understanding. Just peeling back another layer!
Of course this brings me to 2012. I think we all sometimes feel like we aren't worthy, or we don't have the right background to teach and preach and share the Gospel, much less correct people in love who are saying something that isn't true... but this is a great reminder that no matter what our background or our family situations may be, God is our FATHER. Whatever he wants us to do for Him, He equips us to do. We should have no insecurities or fears, and we should turn to Him when we're too exhausted to go on, or fight anymore. Just like Paul bolstered Timothy in this letter, especially in addressing his fleshly "illegitimacy," when we bury our faces in the Word, God encourages us to go on and "fight the good fight" for the kingdom! :)
May you go on to do great things today for our Father!