Day 28 | Equipped for our Everyday

Reflection

Our confidence grows as our competence grows. We experience this link when cooking a recipe over and over, learning to drive a car, or playing a sport. So how does my competence as a disciple of Jesus grow?

Well, in similar ways: practice and experience, guidance from God through His Spirit and through prayer, having a go and learning from mistakes, and teaching and support from others. Linked to these is the Bible as the reference of expertise – which, as Timothy reminds us, is useful for teaching, rebuking, and training in righteousness.

But it is the slightly less-quoted verse 17 that stands out to me: ‘so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’

That phrase, ‘thoroughly equipped’ and its different English translations – ‘proficient’, or ‘capable’ – sound like competence to me. In fact, ‘competent’ is the word the New American Bible plumps for. And this competence is for every kind of good deed and good work, including actions on my frontlines today.

If I am confident in the Bible, I read it regularly, carefully, and expectantly. In doing so, my competence and confidence in every kind of good work grows.

Responding in prayer

Lord, thank you for the Bible, for its relevance and trustworthiness, and that it is Your living word that helps me grow.