Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ I serve God with a clear conscience, as my forebears did, and I am grateful to him that I remember you all the time, as I pray for you night and day. ⁴ I remember how you cried when I left, and I’m longing to see you and be filled with joy. ⁵ I have in my mind a clear picture of your sincere faith—the faith which first lived in Lois your grandmother and Eunice your mother, and which, I am confident, lives in you as well.

⁶ That’s why I now want to remind you that God gave you a gift when I laid my hands on you, and that you must bring it back into a blazing fire! ⁷ After all, the spirit given to us by God isn’t a fearful spirit; it’s a spirit of power, love and prudence.