Lives of Scripture

Timothy grew up in Lystra with a Jewish mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, both commended for their "sincere faith," though his father was a Greek, apparently not a believer (Acts 16:1; 2 Timothy 1:5). Well spoken of by believers in Lystra and Iconium, Timothy joined Paul's ministry team, and Paul had him circumcised to avoid unnecessary offense to Jews in the region they were about to travel through, even though Paul elsewhere strongly opposed requiring circumcision of Gentile converts (Acts 16:1-3; compare Galatians 5:2-6). Timothy became one of Paul's most trusted companions, mentioned as co-sender of six of Paul's letters and repeatedly sent on sensitive assignments to trouble churches, including Thessalonica and Corinth (1 Thessalonians 3:1-6; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10). Paul's affection for him is unmistakable, calling him "my true child in the faith" and "my beloved son" (1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2). Paul left Timothy to lead the church at Ephesus, and 1 and 2 Timothy, two of Paul's "Pastoral Epistles," address him personally with detailed guidance on church leadership, sound doctrine, and personal integrity, including Paul's encouragement not to let anyone look down on him for his youth, but to be an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity (1 Timothy 4:12). Paul's second letter to Timothy, written from prison shortly before his execution, is among the most personal and urgent in the New Testament, closing Paul's life with a final charge to his closest protégé.