Desire to please God
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.—2 TIMOTHY 2:15
Christians desire to have God pleased with their lives. Certainly, you want to please the One who gave His Son for you. You want to please the One who loves you and promises to bless you and will someday give you an eternal reward and welcome you into His presence. Wanting to please God is just part of being a Christian. But how do you present yourself to God for approval? Well, you have to be a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed. And the key to that is really important: Rightly dividing the word of truth. If I want God to approve my work, I need to rightly divide the word of truth or Scripture—all of it. To “rightly divide” means to “cut it straight.” It refers to preciseness, exactness. For instance, if you were a leather worker such as Paul, cutting hides and making tents, you had to cut according to a pattern and sew the pattern together so that the tent was the way it should be. Precision and accuracy is the idea. So if you want a life approved by God, and you want to be a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, then heed these words: Handle accurately the Word of God in how you interpret and apply it.