Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

I thank God for your faith: guard it well

^3-4 I thank the God of my forefathers, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as I remember you in my prayers. Every day and every night I have been longing to see you, for I can’t forget how moved you were when I left you, and to have you with me again would be the greatest possible joy.

^5-7 I often think of that genuine faith of yours—a faith that first appeared in your grandmother Lois, then in Eunice your mother, and is now, I am convinced, in you as well. Because you have this faith, I now remind you to stir up that inner fire which God gave you at your ordination. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind.