Be Gracious

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “You made! Now what?”

Our Bible verse for today: “You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be Gracious”

All this month we are exploring ideas and suggestions that can help us to live a fuller, better, more productive life in 2026 than we did in 2025. We should always be striving for growth and improvement. We should never just be putting in time in life, meandering through our days without focus and purpose. You made it to the end of 2025 and now God has granted you a new year filled with untold opportunities. What will you do with it?

Already this month we’ve given some thought to the advice the Apostle Paul gave to his young protégé Timothy in the letters first and second Timothy. You may remember that Timothy was a young man who had been trained by Paul to be an evangelist, church planter, church fixer, and a pastor. It was hard work and Timothy often found himself discouraged and sometimes doubtful. The letters Paul wrote were filled with advice and encouragement about how to survive and thrive in difficult circumstances – and so much of it had to do with maintaining a good attitude and not giving up.

We’ve learned from the advice Paul gave to Timothy that some of the character traits that comprise a good attitude include boldness, courage, perseverance, and faithfulness. We saw these same attributes modeled for us in yesterday’s devotional when we considered the example of Caleb who, at the ripe old age of eighty-five, was still fired up and ready for whatever life brought next. Today we’ll consider the attribute of graciousness.

In 2 Timothy 2:1 Paul urged Timothy to be strong in grace. He was referring to the grace that is found in a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. Not only do we experience grace from Christ, but we are also to be dispensers of the grace of Christ. A gracious spirit should be a prominent aspect of our Christian character.

To be gracious means to be characterized by kindness, warmth, courtesy, tact, mercy, and compassion. This becomes especially important if you are also in the process of cultivating the other character traits we’ve considered such as boldness, courage, and even the feistiness of old Caleb. Those character traits are all important and needed, but if they’re not clothed in grace then such a person can easily become arrogant, obnoxious, rude, and even hurtful. It’s good to be bold and courageous and even feisty – if it’s wrapped up in kindness, warmth, courtesy, tact, mercy, and compassion.

Billy Graham was bold, but he was also very gracious. Mother Teresa was bold, but she was also gracious. President Ronald Reagan was bold, but he was gracious. This needs to describe us too.

We’re going to explore this idea a little further tomorrow as we discuss the concept of “Steel and Velvet”. In the meantime, please be gracious.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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