Be Strong

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Tim 2.1

John Stott:

"As for you, Timothy, be strong!" Of course, if his exhortation had stopped there, it would have been futile, even absurd. He might as well have told a snail to be quick or a horse to fly as command a man as timid as Timothy to be strong. But Paul's call to fortitude is Christain not stoical. It is not a summons to Timothy to be strong in himself- but to be inwardly strengthened by means of the "grace that is in Christ Jesus". Timothy is to find his resources for ministry not in his own nature but in Christ's grace. It is not only for salvation that we are dependent on grace (1.9), but for service also.