You’ve probably heard someone say it: “Look, I’m just the messenger!”

This is usually said when someone is bringing news that’s unpleasant to your ears. The speaker is attempting to deflect your negative response by saying that someone else is responsible for the message.

This is understandable. No one wants to suffer another’s wrath if they don’t have to. But in today’s verse, Paul doesn’t let Timothy off the hook so easily. He charges Timothy to not just deliver God’s message like some empty device or machine, but to be something more.

God’s good news won’t often sound good at first to those who don’t believe. However, from our perspective, time is short and there’s too much at stake.

The key is to become more than just a messenger. How? By befriending those who have not yet met Christ and fallen in love with Him. By actually living out the message. By allowing the good news of Christ to live in you through and through.

Paul’s charge to Timothy is ours as well: you’re not just the messenger.

In your patience, love, and teaching, you yourself should become the message.