Becoming Sanctified Saints

II Timothy 2:20-26 Actually, using the term "sanctified" with "saint" is being redundant, because “sanctified” is being set apart for God’s purpose and “saint” is one who is set apart. I think what I’m trying to say is that “being set apart for God” needs to become a priority in our thinking. Time is short, people are lost, and the battle for souls is fierce. In our Scripture, Paul is telling Timothy that our lives are like a large house that contains a wide variety of furnishings with a wide range of values and uses. I believe that Paul is telling us that what we allow to remain in our lives and what we use and how we use it needs to be governed, not by our desire or apparent needs, but by the Master’s plan for our lives. We are told to flee the “evil” desires of youth. Not all the desires of youth are evil, but the ones that are, flee from them! They are to be judged by their consistency with “righteousness”, “faith”, “love”, and “peace”. Paul reminds us in verse 24 that we as God’s servants must not quarrel but be involved in kindness and restoration. We are told not to get involved with “foolish and stupid arguments” because they do produce quarreling. They become “foolish and stupid” when they degenerate into quarreling, because at that point they tear down, rather than build up. Not only do they damage the relationship between the arguers, but they also tend to produce damaging results in those who hear the argument. Let’s aim towards repentance, restoration, and relationship between us and God and among ourselves. We need a servant's heart.