Have you ever had a great coach? They could push you beyond your limits and lead you to believe you could do more than you currently were. You would work, fight and bleed for them. Then you would come back the next day to do it again. They believed in you and you were better because of them.
Have you ever had a bad coach? They would push you beyond your limits and you hated them for it. They brought the worst in you. You work, fight and bleed wishing it the coach would die. Then you would cringe to think about going back. They thought highly of themselves and used you to make them great.
I think all of us have had these kinds of people in our lives. They may not be coaches but family, a boss, or even our parents. We have people we look up to because of who they were in our lives. We aspire to inspire people the way they do. Their words spoken so long ago still ring in the depths of our soul. The opposite is true as well. We have people we think so poorly of. We want to never be like them or associate with people like them. However their words tend to ring in our souls as well.
1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
Paul is raising up a young man named Timothy. Paul play a father in Timothy’s life. Timothy has taken the pastoral leadership role of a Church Paul has planted. This is a huge role in the early church. Paul has affirmed Timothy in his true identity in Christ, earlier in the letter. Now Paul is coaching Timothy in what to do to fulfill the needs of the church and his role in it. He starts by saying “don’t let people look down on you because you are young.” Paul sad this because that is what people were saying. Paul says to rise above the people’s accusations by setting the example. Then he gives practical advice for how to do it. Speak Identity! Speak Encouragement! Speak Practically what to do!
So we all have people who look to us to set an example. Your words carry great weight. My question is what kind of a coach do you play? Do you make other people better or are people a tool to get to your goal? The words you speak, do they give life or take it? How do they ring in people’s soul? What kind of impact are you making? Is it what you want?
So who can you encourage today? What words do you need to say to make a difference? GO DO IT! SPEAK IT!
Recklessly, obsessively following Jesus
Brandon Sereg
