“At my first defense, no one came to my support,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them.”
2 Timothy 4:16
Silence Is Not Golden; It Is Shaming and Demoralizing
Last night, I read yet another sad story from yet another fellow biblical counselor about how they had been deeply hurt by other biblical counselors who were publicly mischaracterizing and slandering them. When this happens publicly, why are we staying silent? Why are we not publicly coming to the defense of our fellow biblical counselor?
Paul’s Final Words
While all of this was on my mind and heart, this morning I began reading 2 Timothy about suffering. I was struck once again by two comments Paul makes in 2 Timothy, toward the end of his life, that are so sad. In 1:15, he shares,
“You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.”
Then, close to his last-ever recorded words, Paul says in 4:16,
“At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.”
I think about those words whenever a Christian brother or sister is mischaracterized. I especially think
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