This is part of the series The Life That Honors God, from 1 Timothy. Check out more from the series!

Over the next few days, I want to share five different aspects of The Life That Honors God. This series, based out of 1 Timothy chapter 4 and chapter 5, is all about how to live a life that makes a difference to others, but most importantly, to God. Click on the link in the box above to see the introductory post, with links to all five aspects as they are posted.

1 Timothy 4:6 says:

If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

Many of us have been brought up in the truths of the faith. God may have been talked about in your homes. The truths of the faith may have been taught to you by godly men & women, who gave of their lives to you as Sunday school teachers, preachers, youth leaders.

And those of you who didn’t grow up in homes built upon a Christian foundation, if you attend church, you still have the truths of the faith being taught to you weekly, right there.

Next time you’re there, look around you. See the people who are involved in teaching you the truth, right there with you. Some of those people you may have known all your life. And there are all kinds of people involved in teaching other people. Some teach younger children. Others teach adult Bible classes. These teachers bring Scripture to life for their listeners. And there are others, like VBS workers, small group leaders, elders and deacons, and the list goes on and on. And there is always a need for more people to become involved in teaching the truth.

I remember when I first became aware of this truth. I was going to be a freshman in high school. We had just started going back to the church that I had grown up in, Northside Christian Church. When the preacher left, and the church hired another, my parents took the family and went across town to another church for two or three years.

But now we were back at Northside. And I didn’t know anyone anymore, but I signed up to go to church camp anyway. There were at least twenty-five kids going, I should make some friends, right?

But as the time grew closer to camp, one by one, every single student backed out. I was the only one left. And our youth minister at the time, a volunteer, felt that one new kid wasn’t worth his whole week, and so he backed out too. I went by myself. And had the best time of my life.

That week, I met a guy who was to become a mentor to me. He slept on the top bunk next to mine. His name was Chris. Chris and I became friends that week, and he challenged me to live a life that would always teach the truth.

I left camp after the week was over, thinking I would get to see Chris the next year. And about two weeks later, our preaching minister knocked on our door. He wanted to introduce our church’s new youth minister to my brothers and me. Guess who it was? It was Chris!

Christ taught me lots over the course of the next four years. And then I graduated and went to Ozark Christian College to study for a career in ministry.

Because of Chris’s influence, I soon had a weekend ministry at a church named Park Street Christian Church in a little town called El Dorado Springs, about an hour and a half north of Joplin.

After two years there, Park Street hired a new preaching minister. Guess who it was? It was Chris! And I learned a lot more from him as a co-worker than I ever did as a student in his youth ministry.

I am still able to keep in contact with Christ and his family occasionally.

Chris taught me the truths of the faith, and encouraged me to teach those truths to others.

And you have been, and are being, taught the truth of the Scripture. Now hold fast to it and teach it.

2 Timothy 2:15 says:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

It’s not just knowing the truth; it’s how you handle it. It’s what you do with it that counts.

The measuring rod for truth . . . is the Word of truth.

Listen to what 2 Timothy 4:2-5 says about this:

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

The Word of God supersedes the opinions of man.

We don’t preach and teach what man wants to hear. At least we’d better not.

We preach and teach what God has to say.

And that is what gives us the confidence to speak with boldness. Your confidence to preach the word is not found in experience. It is not found in your age.

When you speak the Word you speak with authority by the virtue of the message you deliver.

Our authority is in the message we bring from God.

You may not believe this, especially if you know me, but as a teenager, I was a very shy, quiet person. I hated attention. I hated to be in front of anyone, even one or two people. I always hid behind others in a crowd. I avoided going anywhere where I might draw attention upon myself.

But look at me now! As a minister, I love being in front of people. What changed? Not me, really. But what I had to say, or present. That’s what changed.

I’ll never forget the first time I ever had an opportunity to preach. I was a junior in high school, already preparing for Bible college. I had to speak in a public place as a requirement for a speech class I was in at school. I thought, “Church would be a great place to do this. Everyone knows me, Sunday nights are a small crowd….. yeah.”

I guess my teacher was worried about me. I couldn’t speak in class without stumbling all over myself, mumbling, losing my place in my notes, and generally just not doing very well at all.

But when I turned in my tape of the sermon at church, she was surprised! I spoke well! I spoke strongly! I didn’t sputter or mumble my words! I had confidence! But you see, it wasn’t really me.

I was preaching what God had to say.

When you preach the Word you speak with authority by the virtue of the message you deliver. Our authority is in the message we bring from God.

So speak the truth and God will deliver the message with authority.

Teaching the truth carries a large weight of responsibility with it. What seems most critical to you about teaching the truth? You can share your thoughts in the comment section below.