1 Timothy 1:4 And not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith.
My grandmother was an avid genealogist and found great joy in combing through legal records, church registers, letters, and other old documents to find the names and stories of ancestors. I have a picture of my grandmother, my great-uncle, and his wife sitting in the midst of a church graveyard in northern Alabama. The three, smiling as they stood next to the weathered headstone of one of my ancestors, held handfuls of ivy they had removed from the gravestone, exposing it to the sunlight for the first time in decades.
Our genealogies give us a place to belong on the family tree. The Bible knows this. Just read the beginning of Matthew. We are part of a long line of saints and sinners who have come before us. However, we have our own story, our own place in the grand story of God.
Perhaps this letter to Timothy reminds Christians to remember we are part of the story of our past but not completely defined by it. What words have you added to the story of your ancestors in the faith?
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