“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and WHO CORRECTLY HANDLES THE WORD OF TRUTH.” (2 Tim. 2:15) [‘Correctly’ comes from the word orthotomeō: to make a straight cut, that is, to dissect, to rightly divide. When we present the gospel we must remember we are handling the Word of God! So we must honor it, respect it and most importantly pray over it, pray that Our Abba Father will reveal the word to us so we may reveal it to others!] “Avoid godless chatter, because THOSE WHO INDULGE IN IT WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE UNGODLY. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” (2 Tim. 2:16-17) [Avoid all empty (vain, useless, idle) talk. We can turn the radio or television on today and witness plenty empty and useless talk, people may say whatever they want with no accountability and lead many astray, but we must “speak the truth in love” Eph. 4:15 so that we will:] “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and BLOWN HERE AND THERE BY EVERY WIND OF TEACHING and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph. 4:14) [That is, that we may be no longer children in our knowledge who are weak in the faith, and fluctuating in our judgments, yielding easily to every temptation, readily complying with the many ‘untruths’ going around!] “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, GROWS AND BUILDS ITSELF UP IN LOVE, AS EACH PART DOES ITS WORK.” (Eph. 4:15-16) [There are two ways to understand this: One, that all the members of the church may attain a greater portion of love for Christ and to one another; or know that mutual love among Christians is a great associate to spiritual growth: it is in love that the body edifies itself; whereas a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.] “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for WE ARE ALL MEMBERS OF ONE BODY.” (Eph. 4:25) [This is a part of our ‘old man’ that we must put off; and that part of the new man that must be put on in opposition to any falsehood is speaking the truth in all our conversations with others. It is the character of God’s people that they are children who will not lie, who dare not lie, who hate and abhor lying!]
Be blessed as you praise The Lord, knowing that WE MUST ALWAYS BE SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, SO WE WILL GROW TO BECOME, IN EVERY RESPECT, THE MATURE BODY OF HIM WHO IS THE HEAD, THAT IS, CHRIST!
-Bill Stockham