Leadership and Legacy

What if the greatest barrier to spiritual transformation isn't our city, our circumstances, or our busy schedules—but our own apathy? This profound exploration of 2 Timothy chapters 1 and 2 challenges us to reconsider what it means to be disciples who make disciples in a culture that tells us it's impossible. We're confronted with the reality that Jesus' final words—the Great Commission to go and make disciples—have often become our 'great omission.' The intimate relationship between Paul and Timothy reveals a beautiful pattern: discipleship flows in all directions. We need people to look up to, peers to walk alongside, and younger believers to invest in. The passage reminds us that genuine discipleship requires three essential elements that counter our spirit of timidity: power, love, and self-discipline. Like an acorn that must be completely broken open to become an oak tree, we're called to die to ourselves so that generations can find life through our faithfulness. The imagery is striking—for a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it looks like destruction. But this is precisely how the kingdom advances: through our willingness to let our shells crack, our insides pour out, and our lives become seedbeds for others to grow deep roots in Christ.