“Do your best.” Sounds like something you’d hear from a coach, or your parent, or a motivational speaker. What about from God? How do people of faith give their best in a way that fuels the fire God has placed in them?
Read 2 Timothy 2:14-19
1. No one wants to live a life described by the words “mediocre,” “average,” or “low-impact.” What words would best describe the kind of life you want to live?
2. What words honestly describe the kind of life you are living?
3. Paul is concerned in this passage about members of the church who are not giving their best but rather are getting caught up in “pious nitpicking,” “quarreling,” and “wandering away from the truth.” What image does Paul use to describe how such mediocrity spreads within a community?
4. Where do we see Christians involved in such “majoring in the minors” today? Where do you sometimes get caught up in these activities that are less than your best?
5. What do you think are the essentials of the faith? How do we give our best to these?
6. How does giving your best in your work equate with an intense, dynamic faith? How are you doing in this area?
7. Read 2 Timothy 2:20-22. What metaphor does Paul use to describe the importance of being pure? How is it true that purity is about usability?
8. How does viewing our life as a loan from God move us toward giving our best?
Taking Action:
Doing your best is about accepting what is good and bad about yourself and working with God to change the one person in the world you can change—you. What is the one step you will take this week that moves you toward giving your best to God? Tell your plan to one person who will keep you accountable to this goal.
The intensity of our fire has everything to do with proximity to the source of the flame. Read 2 Timothy 2:8-11. Notice how identification with the mission of Jesus fuels the fire for Paul. Consider what spiritual disciplines might move you closer to the source of the flame. (Some examples might include learning a new form of prayer, fasting, meditation on Scripture, study on a particular area of challenge or struggle, simplifying your life, time in solitude, sacrificial giving, listing what you are grateful for.) Suggested reading: Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
God, we want to give you our best—in part because you have given your best for us, in part because you simply deserve our best, and in part because we want to be part of your transforming work in the world. Forgive us when we are involved in spreading mediocrity within your church through giving less than our best. Challenge, convict, and encourage us to remember what is most important and to give our very best for it. Please take what we offer as an act of worship and use our best for your plans in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.