Devotional Text: 2 Timothy 2:23-26(NIV) 

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 

Dear Friends A good foundation for a fulfilled life is education, whether it is in business, social service or even in Christian service. Where education is happening one deals with people whose life story plays a vital role in the process. It’s their  life story that brought them there in the first place. Our whole text prepares servants for Christian service and Paul’s second letter to Timothy teaches about “A workman Approved by God” thus all people who serve in this service had already been approved by God in advance. Knowing this Paul warns that by getting involved in foolish and stupid arguments, one serves no purpose since it produce quarrels. Not only verbal quarrels, but also deep emotional quarrels, which leads to self-doubt and loosing site to God’s intended plan for your life. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel and has no reason to as well because he/she has got nothing to prove to the world and should thus rather concentrate on teaching other believers the fulfilled and the yet to be fulfilled promises in order to prepare fellow believers for eternity. Quarrels thus causes people to loose sight to what is really important and by being distracted by the things that happens around us, we not only loose our calling to teach, but our integrity also suffers as a result of our teaching which is not in line with our witness, since both are saying things which they regret at some stage. Teaching mainly happens through our interaction and conduct and how we treat one another. Quarrels gives the devil a stronghold in our lives, because people who are involved in quarrels empowers the devil to conduct his devastating plans, especially among believers and therefore let opposing sides instruct one another gently and by doing so, destroying the strongholds which the devil has already placed. Do it in the hope that God will grant repentance, which is needed to acquire the full knowledge of God’s truth that is so desperately needed by all believers. Quarrels ensnare us in the trap of the devil, meaning that we are so desperate to be right that what we know to be right in God’s eyes is becoming a mere thought. We are approved by God and knowing this sets us free to acknowledge our mistakes and make the necessary changes for the common good of all who might be depending upon us to lead the way. God teaches us through our life stories daily, which enables us to teach even those who might think that they are untouchable. The learning process in our lives never ends during our time here on earth, because God has so much he wants to reveal to us  and that happens on a day to day basis. Life has got every subject imaginable and thus the “University of Life” is in session every single day.May God show you the time to speak and the time to be silent in order for you to avoid a quarrel that might not be to the better of the cause you both are standing for. May He continue to make you patient in the learning periods of your life so that when a time for practical implementation comes, you will be successful for the next phase of your life. Amen