There are verses that feel like pressure every time you read them.
For a lot of readers, 2 Timothy 2:15 is one of them:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
Do your best. Be approved. Don't be ashamed. It can read like a bar set just high enough to make you wonder if you're clearing it.
But the NIV Quest Study Bible, one of 70+ resources available with Bible Gateway Plus, stops at verse 15 and asks a question that reframes everything:
Can we earn God's approval?
No. But we can do our best to exhibit God's work in our lives. Though we are approved by grace, not works, we demonstrate that we have been approved when the results of God's grace in us can be seen by what we do. What we are on the inside is recognized by the 'fruit' we produce on the outside.
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