WHEN your friend send you letter to encourage you, how you de feel? Apostle Paul send that kind letter to Timothy. And na that letter be the Bible book of 2 Timothy today. We dey sure say, Timothy go don find one quiet place to read the letter wey e friend send to-am. E fit be say Timothy de think say: ‘How Paul dey? E get any advice for me wey go help me do my work well? The advice from this letter fit help me succeed as I de preach and teach people?’ For this topic, we go see how Timothy get answer to this questions and other ones from that important letter. But make we talk about some important points wey go help us from that letter.

As Timothy just start to read the letter, quick-quick e notice-am say Paul really care about-am. Paul call Timothy the “pikin wey [e] love.” (2 Tim. 1:2) Timothy fit don pass 30 years when e receive the letter around the year 65 C.E., and that time e don already be elder wey get experience. E don de work with Paul for more than 10 years, and e don learn plenty things.

Timothy go don really get encouragement as e know say Paul hold Jehovah tight even with all the problem wey e de face. Paul dey prison for Rome, and they go soon kill-am. (2 Tim. 1:15, 16; 4:6-8) Timothy see say Paul get strong heart because of wetin Paul talk, e say: “I continue to endure everything.” (2 Tim. 2:8-13) Just like Timothy, we too fit get encouragement from the way Paul endure.

Paul encourage Timothy make e see e work for God as something wey really dey important. Paul want make Timothy allow “the gift of God” wey dey inside-am de burn like fire. (2 Tim. 1:6) Paul use the Greek word wey be khaʹri·sma for “gift.” That Greek word wey Paul use mean free gift wey no suppose to reach our hand. Timothy receive this gift when they choose-am to serve the congregation for special way.​—1 Tim. 4:14.

Wetin Paul de encourage Timothy to do with this gift? As Timothy read this thing for the letter wey be, “burn like fire,” maybe e think about fire wey people de use for house  wey de turn to hot charcoal sometimes. They need to blow the charcoal so that e go bring fire and more heat. One dictionary talk say, the Greek verb wey Paul use (wey be a·na·zo·py·reʹo) mean to blow fire wey don off make e light again. And so this one mean to move person to do something. So Paul de tell Timothy say: ‘Do your best for your assignment!’ Today, we too need to do the same thing​—make we do our best for our assignment.

As Timothy continue to read the letter from e dear friend, e see another thing wey go help-am to succeed for e assignment. Paul write say: “Protect this fine thing wey you don receive, with the help of the holy spirit wey dey inside us.” (2 Tim. 1:14) Wetin be that thing wey Timothy receive? For verse 13, Paul talk about the “good-good word,” the truth wey dey for Bible. (2 Tim. 1:13) As Timothy na preacher of the good news, e need to preach the truth to brothers and sisters for e congregation and people for e territory. (2 Tim. 4:1-5) Another thing be say, they make Timothy elder so that e go take care of sheep of God for congregation. (1 Pet. 5:2) Timothy protect this important thing wey e receive, and this thing na the truth wey e need to teach, as e trust Jehovah’s holy spirit and e Word the Bible to help-am.​—2 Tim. 3:14-17.

Today, we too don receive the truth wey we de share with people for our preaching work. (Matt. 28:19, 20) Make we no ever forget say this truth wey we de preach really de important. So this one go make us continue to pray and study Bible everytime. (Rom. 12:11, 12; 1 Tim. 4:13, 15, 16) They fit still give us more work for congregation, to be elder or to do more for our preaching work. This kind important assignment suppose make us dey humble and trust God to help us. We go fit protect this important thing if we see-am as something wey really dey important, and trust Jehovah say e go help us so that we go fit take care of-am well.

Part of the assignment wey Timothy receive na to train other people so that they go fit do the work too. That na why Paul encourage Timothy say: “The things wey you don hear from me, . . .  use-am teach men wey them fit trust, and this one go make them qualify to teach other people.” (2 Tim. 2:2) Yes, Paul remind Timothy say make e teach other brothers all the things wey e don learn. Today, e dey important make all the elders for congregation try to do like that. Better elder no de allow jealousy to make-am hide the things wey e know. Instead, e de teach other people so that they go fit do the work. E no de fear say the people wey e teach go know more things or sabi do the work pass-am. The elder no de just teach the people the small-small things wey they need to know first. But e de train them so that they go fit mature and get experience as Christians. So when the elder do like this, the “men wey them fit trust” wey e don teach, go qualify to even help the congregation more.

We dey sure say Timothy really value the letter wey e receive from Paul. We fit imagine Timothy when e de read the letter again and again, and as e de sofri think deep about how the advice from the letter go fit help-am do e best for e assignment.

We want follow this advice too. How we fit do-am? Na to allow the gift wey we get to burn like fire, to protect the important thing wey we don receive, and to teach other people everything wey we know. If we do like this, Just as Paul tell Timothy, we too go fit do our “work for God well.”​—2 Tim. 4:5.