1 From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of his promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus,
2 to my dear son Timothy.
May grace, mercy and peace be with you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
God did not give us a spirit of bashfulness
3 I give thanks to God whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly, day and night, in my prayers.
4 I recall your tears and I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith,
5 so like the faith of your grandmother Lois and of your mother Eunice, which I am sure you have inherited.
6 For this reason I invite you to fan into a flame the gift of God you re ceived through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God did not confer on us a spirit of bashfulness, but of strength, love and good judgment.
8 Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the con trary, do your share in laboring for the Gospel with the strength of God.
9 He saved us and called us – a calling which proceeds from his holiness. This did not de pend on our merits, but on his gen erosity and his own initiative. This calling given to us from all time in Christ Jesus
10 has just been mani fested with the glorious ap pearance of Christ Jesus, our Lord, who de stroyed death and brought life and immortality to light in his Gospel.
11 Of this message I was made herald, apostle and teacher.
12 For its sake I now suffer this trial, but I am not ashamed, for I know in whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is capable of taking care of all I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 Follow the pattern of the sound doctrine which you have heard from me, concerning faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14 Keep this precious deposit with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
15 You know that all from the province of Asia have deserted me, especially Phygelus and Hermo genes.
16 May God bless the household of Onesiphoras, for he often came to visit me and was not ashamed of my chains.
17 On the contrary, on arriving in Rome he searched for me until he found me.
18 May the Lord grant that he find mercy from the Lord on that day. You well know all the services he rendered at Ephesus.
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Comments 2 Letter to Timothy, Chapter 1
• 1.6 Fan into a flame the gift you received. See 1 Tim 4:14. Paul tries to give his own energy to Timothy and he reminds him of God’s love and promises.
The sound doctrine… the precious deposit… which you have heard from me (13-14): see 1 Tim 1:3. The doctrine of the faith cannot be altered, but neither can it be put in storage. It must be lived, which brings into play our creativity as well as that of the Holy Spirit that lets it be rediscovered each day.
He saved us and called us: see Eph 2:8-10.
He is capable of taking care of all I have entrusted to him (v. 12). These words invite us to remember the exact meaning of the word “faith.” In Hebrew, for the Old Testament, the word “faith” had the same root as “to be firm,” or “to lean on something.” In Greek, the word that has become “faith” signifies both the trust that could be had in a debtor, and the guarantee given to the creditor. So Paul considers all his apostolic life as the deposit he has placed in God’s hands. Like Paul a person of faith is not deceived by the mirages of a happy life but prefers to use his life in an often thankless labor and persevere as if he already saw what couldn’t yet be seen (Heb 11:27).