2 Timothy 2:1  So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ.

2 Timothy 2:2  Pass on what you heard from me--the whole congregation saying Amen!--to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others.

2 Timothy 2:3  When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did.

2 Timothy 2:4  A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders.

2 Timothy 2:5  An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere.

2 Timothy 2:6  It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce.

2 Timothy 2:7  Think it over. God will make it all plain.

2 Timothy 2:8  Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It's what you've heard from me all along.

2 Timothy 2:9  It's what I'm sitting in jail for right now--but God's Word isn't in jail!

2 Timothy 2:10  That's why I stick it out here--so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory.

2 Timothy 2:11  This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we'll live with him;

2 Timothy 2:12  If we stick it out with him, we'll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he'll turn his back on us;

2 Timothy 2:13  If we give up on him, he does not give up-- for there's no way he can be false to himself.

2 Timothy 2:14  Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out.

2 Timothy 2:15  Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.

2 Timothy 2:16  Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed by a godly life,

2 Timothy 2:17  they accumulate as poison in the soul. Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples,

2 Timothy 2:18  throwing believers off stride and missing the truth by a mile by saying the resurrection is over and done with.

2 Timothy 2:19  Meanwhile, God's firm foundation is as firm as ever, these sentences engraved on the stones: GOD KNOWS WHO BELONGS TO HIM. SPURN EVIL, ALL YOU WHO NAME GOD AS GOD.

2 Timothy 2:20  In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets--some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage.

2 Timothy 2:21  Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.

2 Timothy 2:22  Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness--faith, love, peace--joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God.

2 Timothy 2:23  Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights.

2 Timothy 2:24  God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool,

2 Timothy 2:25  working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth,

2 Timothy 2:26  enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.