This page gives you ready-made study questions for 2 Timothy 1, Paul’s warm and urgent letter to his young co-worker Timothy. It is built for a small group, a Sunday class, or a personal study. You will find questions on what the text says, what it means, and how to live it, along with answers and discussion notes for a leader.
2 Timothy 1 at a Glance
Paul opens by greeting Timothy and thanking God for his faith, which he traces back through his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois. He then urges Timothy to stir up the gift he received and reminds him that God gives a spirit of power, love and self-control rather than fear. The middle of the chapter calls Timothy to hold firm to the gospel even when it costs him, grounding that courage in God’s saving purpose.
The chapter closes with a contrast: some believers in Asia have turned away, while Onesiphorus has refreshed Paul and stood by him without shame. Paul ends by praying for mercy on Onesiphorus’s household, so the chapter moves from exhortation to gratitude and prayer.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first to make sure everyone has read the text carefully before anyone begins to interpret it. Let people answer from the passage itself, and point back to specific verses when the group wanders into speculation.
2 Timothy 1:3
I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day
(WEB)
Read this verse early to set the tone of thankful remembrance. It shows Paul’s gratitude for Timothy’s heritage and his steady prayer life. Ask the group what they are thankful for in those who came before them.
2 Timothy 1:6-7
6 For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
(WEB)
These verses are the heart of the chapter’s exhortation and give the group a clear call to stir up gifts and reject fear. Reading them together helps everyone hear the contrast between a timid spirit and the spirit God gives. Pause after reading to let the words settle.
2 Timothy 1:8-9
8 Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal…
(WEB)
Reading these verses reminds the group that the call to endure is rooted in God’s saving purpose and grace. It helps shift the focus from personal effort to God’s faithful initiative. Invite people to notice how the verses move from hardship to salvation.
2 Timothy 1:12
For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
(WEB)
This verse offers a clear statement of confidence in the face of suffering. Reading it aloud gives the group a model of trust grounded in knowing whom one has believed. Use it as a moment to ask what they are persuaded God will guard.
2 Timothy 1:16-18
16 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, 17 but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me 18 (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
(WEB)
These verses close the chapter with a portrait of faithful friendship and a prayer for mercy. Reading them helps the group honor those who have quietly served them. End the reading by asking who in the room has been an Onesiphorus to someone else.
Memory Verse for 2 Timothy 1
2 Timothy 1:7
For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
(WEB)
This verse is short enough to memorize and rich enough to return to often. It names the spirit God gives in place of fear, which can be recalled in moments of anxiety. Encourage the group to repeat it together and to say it aloud when they feel timid.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we thank you for the faith that moved through Lois and Eunice and reached Timothy, and for the many people who have prayed for us and stood beside us. Stir up in us the gifts you have given, and replace every fear with the power, love and self-control of your Spirit. Make us unashamed of the gospel, steady in hardship, and quick to refresh those who are weary. Guard what we have entrusted to you until that day. Amen.
