Some things are easy to hear, bringing comfort and encouragement to smooth life’s rough edges. Other things are difficult to hear, telling of pains to endure and troubles to face. We grin at the one and grimace at the other. But if we’re honest, we know that growth comes through overcoming difficulties—by trudging down the rock-strewn, overgrown, untrodden path that takes us to vistas unseen. When Paul laid out a path of suffering for his protégé, Timothy, the young pastor may have grimaced. But Paul promised more than pain. The path, should Timothy choose it, would take him to heights unknown—to glory after death and to greater maturity in life. The same awaits us, if we choose the rough and rugged road of Christ.

2 Timothy 2:1-13

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