Thank God for First Generation Believers

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also (2 Timothy 1:3-5)

First-generation believers often feel out of place in the church.

They shouldn’t, but they do.

They look at children’s and youth ministries, kids growing up in Christian homes, and the beauty of multi-generational families in church and feel like they are missing something. They have not experienced a Christian home and are often the products of dysfunctional families. Their Bible knowledge is often limited, especially at the beginning. They did not learn all the Sunday School stories and Bible doctrine. Sometimes their own children’s Bible knowledge intimidates them.

The first generation believer in Timothy’s life was his grandmother Lois and she is honored by Paul.

My mother is a first-generation believer. Yes, that picture above is of my mother and me. Certainly, you recognize me. The hairline is exactly the same today! There were believers in her extended family before she came to the Lord, but not in her immediate family. She trusted Christ as a “bus kid” while attending a Salvation Army church. Eventually, her sisters and then her mother and father came to trust Christ. Probably because of her own salvation experience and her spiritual gifting, my mother has had a passion for ministering to children all her adult life. Mom and dad were ministering to children in a Good News Club until just last fall when my dad’s cancer diagnosis forced them to step aside temporarily.

Just yesterday afternoon I learned that my great-grandmother was a faithful believer who prayed for her wayward son (my grandfather) to come to Christ. After both were gone, family members found a letter from her to him telling him that she was praying for him and asking him to turn to Christ. It was not until many years after my mother (his daughter) trusted Christ that my grandfather also followed in salvation.

I cannot imagine where I would be today if my mother had not followed the Lord all on her own as a young person. She did, and together with my father, by teaching and example instilled in me a living faith. Sandy and I, in turn, sought to instill that living faith in our children, who are now passing it on to their children.

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14-16).

There is no mention in 2 Timothy or Acts about a Christian father or grandfather. Acts 16:1, says that Timothy’s mother was a Jewess and believed while his father is simply identified as a Greek—certainly indicating that he was not a believer. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:3-5, that the initial believer in the family was Lois, who passed the faith on to her daughter. Those two instilled the word and the faith in Timothy from the time he was a child. God, in turn, used Timothy to partner with the Apostle Paul in turning the world upside down for Christ.

For you first-generation believers—and on this day, especially the mothers–I want to say thank you and tell you how much I admire you for following Christ and setting future generations on a different path. We all owe you a deep debt of gratitude for letting Christ change you. Through your example, He has changed us too.