Flee and Feed

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 2 Timothy 2:22-24

Paul was a man who became a spiritual father to Timothy. Even though Timothy was younger, the mentor relationship here was important because Paul was more experienced in his faith. You can hear the careful instruction between mentor and mentee happening between these two men. Every man goes through a period of physical growth, but also of spiritual growth. Timothy was young in his faith and Paul, his mentor, leans in and explains how to flee and to feed.

I had a mentor teach me an important principle when I was first learning how to grow spiritually: indulgence increases appetite. The more I consumed of anything, the more my desire for it grew. It is pretty obvious what the desires of youth are because we have all experienced them. All men have appetites for things like selfishness, pride, sexuality, and so on. My mentor, and also Paul, would confirm that growing spiritually as a man means fleeing unhealthy desire and feeding on things like faith, love, and peace. No matter what desire enters into our lives, the more we indulge, the more the appetite grows. As you learn to flee and feed, you will find your appetite for Jesus’ way will increase dramatically.

DO THIS TODAY: Find one thing to fast from today and replace it with prayer or another spiritual action.