Flee Youthful Passions
This is better than running away from evil
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But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2:22 (NET)
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This was the final letter we have from Paul.
When I read it, I see that it’s full of final wisdom from a life well lived and distilled to a man he loves so that Timothy could have the best chance possible of succeeding in his walk with God.
I’m grateful that we get a sneak peak into it.
So, here’s a little lesson within the lesson:
It’s not enough to run away from the bad, we need to be running toward the good.
It’s easy to think that fleeing youthful passions in any direction would be good enough. Maybe that leads to a life that avoids making bad, sinful mistakes. But what about making good choices?
That comes from where we’re pursuing.
Here, Paul narrows down the aims of our walks to:
Righteousness
Faithfulness
Love
Peace
The first one is only accomplished by the transformational work of the Holy Spirit.
The other three?
Fruit of the Spirit.
Not a coincidence, I’m sure.
In fact, I can be reasonably certain that the person who lives in gratitude of the righteousness they’ve been given and pursues the fruit of the Spirit will have enough on their plate to keep them busy ‘til Kingdom come.
More than that…
I believe a person who focuses on these will live a life of significant impact for God.
Similar to Paul’s life.
Again, not a coincidence.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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