Save Myself?

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16

On Tuesday evening I opened several boxes and managed to slice open my finger on the last one. It had not happened for quite some time, but there was the reminder in that moment of bleeding. Yes, I am often amused that the temptation to save myself comes at times, and I cannot even save my finger from a knife that I am wielding with my other hand. Letting my right hand cut my left hand did not occur to me when Jesus told us to give without letting one hand know what the other is doing. Then Paul wrote our verse for today.

At first glance it seems that Paul wrote to Timothy of a way to save both himself and others who hear him. Whoa! Major doctrine difficulty it would seem. Wait, it is with the instruction to continue in 'them'. What is this 'them'? Reading further in the story both before and after the verse, we find that the self Paul wrote of had a particular gift given to him. Though not specifically named, we can gather from the story that this gift was none other than the Spirit of God who comes to us at salvation. In bearing witness with the Spirit in him, Timothy could save both himself and those who heard him. There is no major doctrine shift to worry over, in fact the doctrine we use is mentioned just after Timothy's self where the gift of the Spirit resided.

Let us continue in the Spirit in us and the doctrine we have been given!

Bucky