September 30, 2026 | Be Connected
Paul's Life for God
Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:10-11(NIV)
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
Devotional
Paul is referring to his first missionary journey into Galatia. Here is a summary of what happened in the cities referred to in this passage.
Antioch – many people became believers in Jesus, but the city leaders persecuted Paul and expelled him from their city (see Acts 13:48-50).
Iconium – a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed, but others plotted to mistreat and stone Paul (Acts 14:1-6)
Lystra – after healing a man, Paul and his friend Barnabas were praised like Greek gods, but people from Antioch and Iconium tracked Paul to Lystra and stoned him so badly they thought he was dead (Acts 14:19-20)
Timothy, the recipient of this letter, was either from Lystra or the nearby town of Derbe. He was a young guy at the time. That’s why Paul could write, “You know all about my… persecutions I endured.” Timothy had witnessed it. And when Paul returned a few years later, Timothy signed up to follow him anyway. No wonder Paul thought Timothy had what it took to provide pastoral leadership to the church in the corrupt, riotous city of Ephesus.
Most scholars believe this letter of 2 Timothy is the last letter Paul wrote that is in the Bible. It wasn’t long after this that Emperor Nero had him beheaded. Paul knew things were going from bad to worse, so he wanted Timothy to recall not only the bad, but the good as well. That’s why he told his protégé to remember, “my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings.”
The Christian movement would not die with Paul. It would live on through Timothy, and the people he trained, and you, and the people you train.
