Genuine Faith

when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. - 2 Timothy 1v5

Being a dad, and now a grampy, this passage is special. Paul commends Timothy for what he calls his ‘genuine faith,’ which was first practiced by his grandmother and also by his mother. This cross generational genuine faith is a blessing in a couple of ways.

First, Timothy’s faith was genuine – it was, in the words of the King James, unfeigned. I like that word – unfeigned. People feign an illness to get out of work. Feign implies deception and trickery. Feigned faith is true hypocrisy; it is saying one thing and even acting a certain way, while the reality is quite different. Sadly, there is far too much feigned faith in the church and amongst professed believers.

Timothy’s faith was pure, genuine, real, and unfeigned. What a blessed testimony.

Secondly was Timothy’s godly heritage. I love the fact that the importance of godly women is stressed here. Timothy saw the pattern for unfeigned faith from his mother and grandmother. I love this concept of genuine faith in grandchildren. Nanna Lois passed her faith on to her daughter Eunice and Eunice passed it on to her son Timothy. This is how real faith passes from generation to generation. The church has its role, of course. Teachers and pastors have their roles, of course. But the reality of faith passes from grandparents to parents to children and on and on and on.

My prayer is that my godly wife and I will pass our unfeigned faith on to our children and that they will pass it on to their children. I pray that one day we may speak of the unfeigned faith of Morgann, Maddie, AJ, and others that come along. There is no greater joy than hearing of our children walking in the truth.