ByAs people who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Saviour, we have a standard by which we ought to live. We should act and respond to situations in a way that reflects the love of God in us. Some of them are enlisted in 2 Timothy 2:24-26. In there, are five virtues every Christian must cultivate.
[24] “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, [25] in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, [26] and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 NKJV (boldface mine)
We must not quarrel or strive
The Bible has a lot to say about quarrelling. Proverbs 20:3 GNT says,
“Any fool can start arguments; the honourable thing is to stay out of them.”
Why stay out of them? You may ask. Well, James 4:1-2 teaches us that the fights and quarrels come from our desires for pleasure which constantly battles within us.
Why do people quarrel in the first place? To win an argument? To alter someone mentally to align with their opinions, to make our lives or situations convenient. Sounds selfish! Don’t you think so? You quarrel because you strongly desire things you cannot get.
Think about Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and Sadducees anytime they attempted to lure Him into quarrels. He plainly corrected them over and over again. Jesus applied wisdom in his response, and so should you too because we Are conformed by God to be like Him (see Romans 8:29).
We should be gentle unto all men
As God’s chosen people, we are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, patience and of course, gentleness (Colossians 3:12). Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit (Colossians 5:23), and we must manifest it to one another. Being gentle reflects the love that God has for us and others. We ought to practise it because God first loved us.
In restoring people who have gone astray, God through Paul, says in Galatians 6:1 that we need to do it in gentleness. Therefore, gentleness is needed if we want to make an impact on lives, especially when it comes to resolving situations.
Able to teach
In Titus 1:9, the apostle Paul writes that elders in the church should be able to teach. So that is one of the qualifications that Paul listed for church eldership positions, and it is a sign of God’s presence in such a person’s life.
Teaching requires wisdom. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5). And that wisdom is useful in teaching others about the Bible.
Another thing is that teaching requires patience. It can be frustrating to try to teach someone who is not interested in learning or who does not understand what you are trying to say. But the Holy Spirit gives patience to those who are willing to teach others the Word (Galatians 5:22). And that godly patience can help teachers to persevere even in difficult moments.
Teaching requires love. Teachers need to love their students in order to be effective. They need to care about their students’ spiritual growth and be willing to invest time and energy in helping them to learn.
Be patient
Patience is not about being passive or inactive. It is about being active and engaged but in a calm and controlled way. Patience is not about never getting angry or upset. It is about being able to manage your anger and frustration in a healthy way. Again, patience is not about giving up on our goals. It is about persevering through difficult times and never giving up on what we believe in.
Patience is a Christian virtue that is worth developing. When we are patient, we show that we trust God and are willing to wait for His timing. That can help us to live a more peaceful and fulfilling life. For instance, in 1 Peter 3:14-15, we are told to be patient even in times of persecution when we have been even righteous; we should not fear but honour God.
As easy and enticing as it may be, it is not easy to be patient. How then do we live it out? By praying to God and asking Him to unveil that dimension of the Holy Spirit in us, reading the word of God, and looking at how Jesus acted patiently through His ministry, we can also emulate it.
Correct those in opposition to the faith
Those in opposition to the gospel are mostly those who don’t see its relevance. To them, the message of the cross is foolishness.
We don’t have to fight with them but try as much as possible to correct them. There are several reasons why correcting those in opposition to the faith is a good Christian virtue. One of them is that it is a way of manifesting God’s love to our fellow Christians. When we correct someone’s errors, we are doing it because we care about them and want them to be saved.
Looking at the example in Acts 8:22, in this passage, the apostle Philip encounters a man named Simon who was practising sorcery. Philip correctly pointed out to Simon that his practices were wrong, and Simon got born again shortly.
Only Christians who understand God’s love will be willing to correct a person who is lost, along with the hope of helping him back on the right path.
In short, I say; be able to live peacefully with unbelievers and even fellow believers without quarrels and strife. Be gentle unto all men. Clothe yourself with patience. Correct those in opposition to the gospel. Practise these things because Jesus Christ also lived that way, and whoever emulates Jesus is also worthy of your imitation. You’re blessed.
