5 minute read
THE WONDERFUL GIFT OF EVERY LOIS AND EUNICE
KARINA BRABHAM
Thank you! If you’re a Lois or a Eunice — that’s for you.
I want to thank you for the words you speak, the small decisions you make, and the effort you put into living out your faith every day. You may have thought that no one noticed, that you’ll never be an influential Christian guru. Yet to someone like me, your impact might be profound. You might have helped someone to understand the gospel clearly, or to gain a better picture of what it means to glorify Christ as Lord.
Paul’s protégé, Timothy, had women in his life who passed something precious on to him before he ever met the apostle. In 2 Timothy 1:5 it says:
The women who raised him loved and trusted God, and this rubbed off on Timothy so that he too shared in their sincere faith. So often God has shaped me to know him better through the people he has put in my life. There’s a list of names that I hold dear because of the way they have taught me Scripture, modelled what it looks like to love and serve the Lord, and encouraged me to keep growing as a Christian. I’m sure you probably have such a list of people yourself.
Our parents have significant influence on our beliefs, attitudes, habits and behaviours.
My mum is the person I credit with teaching me the most about prayer. Her constant pattern was to pray — before meals, at bedtime, as we set out on a long car trip or in response to a crisis. She was always turning to God in prayer and she encouraged me to do the same. In doing so, she wasn’t just teaching me a habit to follow. She was telling me that God was someone who cared about me and who listened when I spoke to him. She was communicating to me her belief that God is powerful and in control. She showed me that I didn’t need to fear, I only needed to run to my God for comfort and protection.
When my grandma died, there was a clear theme in the stories people shared at her memorial service. Person after person came up to share a memory and, so often, they involved my grandma praying. My mum learnt prayer from her mother, and they are lessons that she has passed on to me. Not all of us are blessed with Christian parents who speak the message of Jesus Christ into our lives from infancy. But God, in His mercy, has blessed all his people with one another. We are part of a spiritual family with brothers and sisters who disciple and minister to us. I love how in our churches we have such a diverse gathering of people because there is so much opportunity for us to learn from one another.
As a teenager, my youth group leaders were massive influences on me.
I grew up in a small church in Darwin. As a few others and I approached the end of primary school there wasn’t a youth program for us to join. It meant a lot when a member of the congregation started up a Bible study just for us. Krysti was one of the few young adults in the church at the time and she had a desire to see us kids keep growing up to know Jesus. Having someone who would open the Bible with us and answer our questions was so significant. It helped me at a point when I was figuring out what it actually meant to call myself a follower of Christ and why I should have confidence in the gospel. Krysti’s ministry helped me to see it was worth shaping my life around Jesus, even if it meant standing out as different from the world.
When I first started considering going into full-time ministry, I kept thinking about Krysti. She had recently passed away from cancer. Her encouragement to me had been of incredible value. She had been someone who loved God and wanted to see others grow in their love for him too. By being willing to give up her time and energy to do just that, she had certainly helped me grow in my love for God. It made me think that if I gave up more of my time and energy to help others know God’s love better and to invest in them, then God could use me — to encourage and grow someone else. This was a big reason I decided to head to Bible college and begin preparing myself for full-time vocational ministry.
In Ephesians 4, Paul presents us with a wonderful view of our unity as the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13 reminds us that God gave people so that the church could be equipped to grow into maturity. When we speak the truth in love, we are contributing to the maturity of each other. God saves us to a community that will shape us and refine us as that community is shaped and refined to be like its head, the Lord Jesus.
In our own personal histories, we each have our list of people who have discipled us and spurred us on. We may also have the incredible privilege of being on such a list for others.
When we are intentional in our relationships with others, we are participating in the Spirit’s profound work of transformation — in our own lives and in the lives of others. We reflect the wonder of God’s power in creating the church as we invest in relationships that aren’t limited by our age or the stage of life that we find ourselves in. There’s a beautiful reciprocity on display as we love and teach each other by simply living out the gospel together. I’m thankful for each Lois and Eunice and Paul that God has put in my life. Yet, ultimately, I’m most grateful for the God who has saved me and is moulding me into the image of his Son. This is the God who unites us and provides us with the gift of one another so that we can participate in his wonderful kingdom work.
