“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm … Don’t have anything to do with foolish and ignorant arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:15-19, 23).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n by Bruce Reeves Preparing for a sermon I came across this passage as Paul wrote to Timothy and thought I would share: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1242,1241,552],"class_list":["post-25543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-character","tag-dignity","tag-integrity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/political-discourse\/","url_meta":{"origin":25543,"position":0},"title":"Political Discourse","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Political discourse is like the Las Vegas of Christianity; it's an environment in which we think our sin is excused.\u00a0Christians feel free to go wild, fear is perpetuated, strife is intentional, and hate is winked at. The thing is, what happens in this \"Vegas\" doesn't stay there;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23429,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/racism-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":25543,"position":1},"title":"Racism Is Wrong","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Racism is wrong. Do you know why? If you say that it is wrong, but do not ultimately know why, then all you are doing is expressing either your own personal preferences or mirroring the preferences of others. That is not acceptable, for preferences are subjective expressions,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/racism-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tolerance\/","url_meta":{"origin":25543,"position":2},"title":"Tolerance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Weliever via The Preacher's Word Thomas Donelan, a Florida minister, offered this description of tolerance. To tolerate means I can disagree with you while still respecting you. One person is a Republican, another Democrat. We put aside our differences and get along. One person is a (Florida) Gator,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/tolerance-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-profitable-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":25543,"position":3},"title":"The Profitable Way","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by R. Andrew Parker via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 4, 31 December 1991 Let's face it: traditionally, we have been a quarrelsome people. Wherever we can find an excuse to argue, we do. If we cannot find a relatively good reason, we will be sure to split a hair or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-more-christians-who-actually-believe-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":25543,"position":4},"title":"Are there more Christians who actually believe the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are there more Christians who actually believe the Word of God? I know I should rejoice in trials, but I would like to know are there more people who, like you, believe in the Word. 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As one serves the Lord and teaches the truth there is certainly a time to forthrightly reprove and rebuke that which is sinful and false, but we must not ever lose our dignity, integrity, and character in Christ in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"