God’s servants are not only His children who love Him and subjects who worship Him; they are also the people who work for Him and with Him (2 Corinthians 6:1).  Like all workers, they need training, practice and experience to ensure that their work is consistently of the highest quality.  Handling the word of truth is a uniquely precious responsibility.  It is God’s truth and so must not be changed, misrepresented or spoiled in any way.  Truth is God’s sword (Ephesians 6:17) with which He defeats all error and judges all who teach falsely.  Paul urged Timothy to work hard at being a servant of God, so that the Lord would approve his work and he would have no reason to be ashamed.

The day will come when we will all stand before the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:10).  The scene is obvious: will He approve of us, or will we be ashamed?  This is not a question of earning any credit with God, because we are accepted only through His grace and not through anything we can achieve (Ephesians 2:8-9).  But this is an assessment of our service. Have we built with materials that will endure or be destroyed (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)?  And even if we have done everything perfectly, there is no credit to us for we have simply done what was asked of us (Luke 17:10).

What is the work of God’s servant?  God uses His people in many different ways.  Those with spiritual responsibility in the church, family, community and workplace are called to be truth-receivers, truth-livers and truth-sharers.  They cannot operate on their own authority or lead people according to their own ideas.  The Word of God is the only reliable source of truth to be lived and shared.  Therefore, it is vitally important that leaders know how to use God’s Word as He intended (2 Timothy 4:1-5).  It is their primary work-tool.  And so training, and diligent hard work, is essential to ensure that they lead others in a way that stays true to God’s heart.
 
Many people claim to offer spiritual advice and want to teach others.  The on-line world is full of them.  But it is not good enough to use Bible verses as hooks upon which to hang human thoughts, in order to give them the semblance of credibility.  There is no substitute for a lifetime of learning from God’s Word with the help of more experienced teachers.  Failure to invest time in understanding God’s Word will result in personal shame and God’s disapproval.  That applies equally to Christian employers, parents, and church leaders.  Whatever our role we should remind ourselves that the first person who hears our teaching is God.  It is His approval that we need; and after that we can have the confidence to instruct others.