A Blueprint For Living

INTRODUCTION — TRYING TO NAVIGATE A WORLD WITH NO MAP

We live in a world that can run you ragged before breakfast. There are so many decisions to make, so much pressure, so many competing voices yelling their version of “truth” into our ears every day. It is incredibly easy to feel like we are wandering without a compass.

Inside us, there is this quiet longing that whispers:

“Someone please tell me how to live. Tell me who I’m supposed to be. Tell me what matters most.”

We try to find that guidance in the places everyone else looks.

News headlines and political speeches. Self-help authors and podcasts. The latest trend on TikTok. The algorithm that tries to guess what we need before we even know it ourselves.

It’s like the whole world is trying to rewrite the blueprint while the building is still under construction.

Paul warned Timothy this would happen:

“There is going to come a time when people won’t listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear!”

2 Timothy 4:3 (TLB)

So here we are. A world where opinions are loud, convictions are quiet, and many folks treat truth like a buffet line. Pick what you like. Leave what you don’t. Pretend dessert is a vegetable.

Paul gave Timothy something stronger. Something steadier. Something that doesn’t blow away when culture shifts direction.

“You must keep on believing the things you have been taught.”

2 Timothy 3:14 (TLB)

Paul points Timothy right to the blueprint.

Right to Scripture.

“The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right.”

2 Timothy 3:16 (TLB)

This is not just information from God.

This is God revealing Himself.

This is Jesus speaking to our hearts.

The Bible doesn’t just tell us how to live.

The Bible reveals Why we live.

The Bible doesn’t just correct us.

It restores us.

The Bible doesn’t just inspire.

It transforms.

So today is about renewing our love for the Word.

Rebuilding our confidence in the Word.

Reestablishing Scripture as the blueprint that shapes daily life.

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1) VALUE THE WORD — Because the Times We Live in Demand It

Look at verse 13:

“But evil men and false teachers will become worse and worse, deceiving many, they themselves having been deceived by Satan.”

2 Timothy 3:13 (TLB)

In other words:

The deeper the darkness gets… the more you need a light.

The Living Bible calls Scripture a lamp (Psalm 119:105)

Jesus calls it truth (John 17:17)

Paul calls it a sword (Ephesians 6:17)

We need all three right now.

We need a lamp for direction.

Truth for clarity.

A sword for spiritual battle.

A World with No Absolutes

We have slipped into a world where…

Morality is crowdsourced.

Identity is self-invented.

Truth is flexible.

Convictions are seasonal.

People ask, “Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?”

Scripture says gently yet firmly: “God is.”

The Word of God is that rare voice that refuses to change just because we do.

The Bible does not trend.

It tests.

In a world that wants to build life on feelings and feelings alone…

The Word offers a foundation that cannot crack.

Jesus said:

“Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words remain forever.”

Matthew 24:35 (TLB)

Everything else in your life has an expiration date.

Not this Book.

A Book for Every Generation

Paul reminds Timothy:

“You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood.”

2 Timothy 3:15 (TLB)

Timothy did not grow into the Bible.

The Bible grew him.

We underestimate what God can plant early.

A preschooler who knows “Jesus loves me” is better equipped to face temptation than a college senior who knows everything except the One who made them.

A Book That Saves

“These scriptures are the source of the wisdom that will lead you to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 3:15 (TLB)

You don’t get saved by believing the Bible.

The Pharisees believed the Bible better than anyone.

You get saved by believing the Savior the Bible points to.

Every story whispers His name.

Every law points to His holiness.

Every promise depends on His faithfulness.

The Bible is not a rulebook.

It’s a redemption story.

A rescue plan.

A Father running toward His lost children.

If you want to meet Jesus…

open the Book that He breathed into existence.

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2) TRUST THE WORD — Because It Has Proven Itself

Verse 16 begins with an audacious claim.

“The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God…”

2 Timothy 3:16 (TLB)

The translation literally means “God-breathed.”