I remember my first sermon. It was on Joshua 1:1-9. This passage of Scripture is quoted often by various people as it is Joshua’s word from God about how he was about to step into the role Moses had played for the Israelites.

That passage is still one of my favorites and I remember studying it thoroughly in the weeks leading up to the message.

There’s something about teaching where you feel extra pressure to have command on your topic.

In the preaching classes in seminary we had to preach an exact length to our sermon, down to a 60 second window with no notes. The professor explained that it was to cause us to have a command over our subject matter but also to require us to stick to Scripture as our Bible’s was all we could have in hand.

This is the same basic idea with the Timothy relationship. When you are mentoring someone else, you feel an increased pressure & drive to have a command over things.

Today is day 56. In theory by now you’ve completed almost two months’ worth of devotional material & 12 weeks’ worth of small group material about sexual sin & pornography. My guess is that God has put some potential Timothy’s in your life. First though, let’s look at who Timothy was in Scripture.

Timothy was the recipient of two of Paul’s New Testament letters bearing his name & probably in his late teens or early twenties when we first hear Paul mention him. He likely came to faith when Paul first went through the area of Derbe and Lystra preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus. Paul thought of Timothy as a son and student of the faith.[1]

Part of the Christian maturing process is giving to someone else, having a Timothy in your life. And if you’re looking and intentional in your relationships, you’ll see God present someone who can benefit from your mentorship.

Now, the question always is, I’m struggling with sexualized sin addiction myself . . . how can I be someone else’s mentor?? Valid point and I have a couple of thoughts.

• It is possible to be very mature in certain areas and immature in other areas as a Christian. Serving with your time at church may come much easier than tithing your money. That doesn’t mean that someone can’t learn something from you.
• You do need to have sustained abstinence from pornographic material and success in this area to truly be able to pour into someone else. What that needs to look like depends on the individual. However, a good rule of thumb is 4-6 months of consistent 7-9 self-scoring on a 10-point scale.
• You need to talk with your Paul about taking on Timothy. Your Paul’s blessing is often going to be a good sign that you are ready to start pouring into someone in a major way.
• A relationship with a Timothy does not need to start off with full-blown mentorship. It can start casually with conversations & basic relationship-building. Things take time so there’s no reason you can’t start sooner rather than later this phase of things.

Regardless of where you’re at today. You must realize that pouring into the life of another is a key ingredient to spiritual maturity. God designed us to be an integral part of how He draws people to a saving relationship with Jesus.

Thoughts to Journal/Pray:

1. Who might be a potential Timothy in your life now?
2. What do you need to do to strengthen those relationships?
3. What do you feel needs to change about you to be a successful mentor to a Timothy?

Reading:

1 Timothy 6:11-21