Strength and Grace

What comes to mind when you think of strength? I think most of us would think of strength as a physical thing, for example, a man with massive arms. We would say, "He's strong". And that very well can be true. But strength is not just a physical thing, in fact I would suggest that it's more of an internal trait than outward.

In 2 Timothy 2:1, in the NLT version, Paul tells Timothy to "be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus." What does that mean? I guess the better question is, what is grace? Grace is the unmerited favor of God towards us, and it's shown to us through Jesus. We do not deserve the free gift of salvation, but God, in His grace and love and mercy, thought it better to send His Son to die for our sins, knowing that Jesus would be raised from the dead and we would be saved. He thought it better to give us His perfect Son so we could be perfect, rather than letting us die in our sins and be eternally separated from Him. That is grace!

The strength of men will wear off. But the strength that comes from God is different. It's a strength that is rooted in the grace of God, which means that my strength is fully dependent on Him and not my own merit. This gives me confidence to keep going.

Also, check out David Guzik's commentary on 2 Timothy 2:1 on the Blue Letter Bible app. It gives a good explanation.