Psychologists (and others) talk about human beings’ “fight or flight” response. When faced with danger, we can engage it or run away from it. A third option, “freeze”, is also common, but I’m not sure if we want to do that (unless we’re confronted with one of those predatory animals that can – supposedly – only see movement). However, those are reactions to bad things, and we don’t seem to talk as much about what to do when a good opportunity is presented to us (whether something that is good for us, or a situation where we can do good for others).
In my life, I’ve sometimes done nothing when I had the chance to take a chance. I’ve walked away from opportunities and made decisions that perhaps could have made a positive difference if I had embraced them. Now, while I trust God to know what I was going to do, and to work good even if I don’t make the “right” decision, I think that there are times when the right answer is not to “fight”, not to “flee”, and not to “freeze”, but rather to “chase” something that is good.
One thing we can say about the letter of 2 Timothy is that Paul offers some practical advice. Some think that, when writing or narrating this letter, Paul expected that his execution by the Roman Empire was imminent, so he was capturing some last thoughts for Timothy. This would further prepare Timothy to continue his ministry without his mentor. Let’s take a look at a couple of verses from that book.
Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
2 Timothy 2:22-23 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2ti.2.22-23.NIV
Here, we find a couple of things to avoid:
- “Flee the evil desires of youth…” [NIV] or “…flee from youthful lusts…” [NASB]. When we’re young, we might covet just about everything that a fallen world offers, whether we summarize this as, “sex, drugs, and rock & roll”, “power, fame, and wealth”, or something else. Not everything that a young person seeks is wrong, of course, since there are strong Christians in every generation. However, I suspect that we can each see how some of the pursuits of our youth weren’t valuable, and if we could go back and counsel our younger selves, we might want to point out where we were just wasting our time.
- And, in verse 23, we need to avoid – or actively reject – certain “arguments” [NIV] or “speculations” [NASB]. This takes some work, by the way. Unhealthy conversations can sneak up on us at any time, and when we sense that they are taking a toxic turn, we shouldn’t always just nod and smile. There are times when we need to refuse to engage in them at all, whether that means changing the subject, calling out false doctrine, or just walking away. Otherwise, we become part of the problem, and part of the reason why there are more quarrels.
And, in addition to things that Paul tells Timothy to reject, there are things that Timothy should be doing, including the pursuit of god-honoring qualities of “righteousness, faith, love and peace”.
Remember that following Jesus is not about just avoiding sin: it’s not limited to a list of “thou shalt nots”. Instead, there is a full and complete life’s worth of good – the greatest of which is God Himself – that we should fill ourselves up with. When our hearts are brimming over with these virtues, the vices have less power over us. We shouldn’t wait for these things. We must not depend solely on others – like preachers and teachers – to deliver all of that to us. No, like Timothy, we should pursue these things, actively trying to get more and more of them in our lives.
And, we aren’t alone in this quest. This pursuit is shared with others who are on the same journey, calling upon the Lord in the right way. All followers of Jesus should seek after these things, and I’m confident that we can do so best when we work together with God and with each other.
So, let’s demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) by letting the Holy Spirit guide us, as we seek not only to reach a lost world for Jesus, but also to restore those who have gotten off of the narrow path of truth. We do so with the hope that they, too, can experience the abundant life that we share, thanks to Jesus Christ (see John 10:10).
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 30, 2025
References:
- 1717 Bible Studies, 2 Timothy, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 Timothy & Titus, by C. Michael Moss. © 1994 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 