Teaching
You can be thoroughly equipped for every good work!
That is the ultimate promise of 2 Tim. 3:16-17, the passage around which we gather each week here in the pages of The Equipped. Your world is a perilous place, and you need equipping to interact with it in a way that is redemptive and points toward flourishing. You want to be—and you need to be—thoroughly equipped!
But how? How can you be ready for what is to come when you don’t know what is coming? The answer is in the lead-up to the promise of being thoroughly equipped:
“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness . . .” (2 Tim. 3:16).
My friend, your salvation is entirely secure when you put your trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross (Rom. 10:9). He has accomplished it, and if you believe it and confess it, you are fully encapsulated by it! Glory hallelujah!
But your equipping for your earthly tasking is only just beginning at that moment of surrender and it requires something more than simply acquiescing. We must be careful to delineate here, because no part of God’s story and work is about you. It is all about Him, and He has finished the work. Scripture is very clear on this point.
But scripture is also very clear about the beautiful fact that God has intentionally vested in you a responsibility to pursue Him (Matt. 6:33 is one of countless invitations in scripture to actively seek a greater understanding of God). He desires you to pursue Him. He desires dialogue and relationship with you. He longs for your earthly story to be about more than a one-time surrender. He wants it to be all about Him, yes, but He wants that glory of Himself to be accomplished through you!
The first facet of equipping by way of this interaction with God and His Word is teaching. Like so many edicts in scripture, this is a two-part process whereby we are refined first, and through that refining we are able to guide others.
Friend, you should be constantly growing your desire to be taught by God’s Word. It sounds easy, but here’s the hard part (or perhaps this is just me): Being teachable requires an acknowledgement I’m not in full alignment with God and will need to change.
I will make a confession. When I hear the word, “teaching,” I immediately think of how I need to explain to others where they’ve gone wrong. I immediately want to be the teacher. But our passage is clear: You and I must submit to being taught before we are equipped to do the work of teaching.
This requires constant humility. Where do you need to fervently bask in the Word—an active and persistent seeking out of Truth—in order to be taught how to be better aligned with His character? You are called to be thoroughly equipped to teach. You are. But you cannot be equipped to teach unless you first submit to being taught.
So ask God today—right now, even: “God, where do you desire to teach me?” Tell Him of your desire to know more of Him. Ask Him to equip you for the teaching of others by way of first doing a work in you.
All scripture is God-breathed. It is useful for teaching. Are you willing to be taught? It is the first way for you to be thoroughly equipped for every good work!
The preceding article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.