<p>4:6 <i>If you put the believers in mind of these things- </i>Gk. 'put them under'. Clearly Paul had set up timid Timothy in a position of authority which was quite foreign to his natural disposition, especially as the believers included many forceful, dogmatic individuals. Our ministries too are often not naturally compatible with who we are.</p><p><i>You shall be a good minister of Christ Jesus</i>- A good deacon. Timothy was to be act as both a bishop and deacon. This is in contrast to later abuses of the position of &ldquo;bishop&rdquo; in orthodox Christian churches. Timothy has been advised how to choose deacons in chapter 3, and he is being asked to model to them how they ought to be. Such servanthood is ultimately service to Jesus- &quot;a good minister of Jesus Christ&quot;. Our service to others in Christ, including the dogmatic, the difficult and the woefully misinformed, is all service to Him. He would be a &quot;good minister&quot; insofar as he was nourished in the &quot;good doctrine&quot;.</p><p><i>Nourished in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have followed</i>- By teaching these words to others, Timothy would himself be nourished by them. By feeding others, he would himself be fed; see on :16 <i>By so doing</i>. and 5:18 <i>The ox when he treads out the corn.</i> This is one reason why the Lord has chosen to work through the process of evangelism. The very process of teaching something makes us come to that material ourselves in a more intimate way than we would if we didn't teach it but simply mentally assented to it within ourselves. &quot;The words of the faith&quot; may refer to the 'faithful sayings' which Paul several times alludes to in his letters- brief inspired sentences which were distributed amongst the new converts. &quot;Followed&quot; is a word used again by Paul in 2 Tim. 3:10 where he says that Timothy has fully followed his own teaching and example. This is quite some commendation. As noted on 3:1, Timothy was very obedient to Paul, and thus his ministry was successful, in that the Lord's judgment of the Ephesian church in Rev. 2 reveals that the very things Timothy was asked to do- he achieved. Despite not at all being cut out for that task. Timothy was to be &quot;nourished up in the words of the faith a reference to 'words' of basic doctrine which comprised a first century Statement of Faith?, and of the good doctrine&quot; (1 Tim. 4:6 RV). True doctrine has the power of growth; it is the seed which is sown, leading to the fruit of good works. The basic Gospel (&quot;doctrine&quot;, AVmg.) of the cross is the active, outstretched arm of Yahweh the Almighty (Is. 53:1). We must let that power work. &quot;Let your conversation (way of life) be as it becomes the gospel of Christ&quot; (Phil. 1:27). By nourishing others with good teaching, he would himself be &ldquo;nourished up in the words of faith&rdquo;. Caring for others on whatever level is what stimulates an upward spiral in our personal spiritual growth. In doing so, we will ourselves find spiritual growth. Practically, this is evident- in that the brother who looks through the Bible readings before doing them with his family, or reads a chapter with his five year old daughter and then the same chapter again with his wife, who makes an effort to prepare a different sermon each time he speaks rather than re-hash an old one... the one who benefits is ultimately himself.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>