Who are your three?

Yesterday, I listened to the “Message of the Cross” program. There was a missionary on the show, and he said we all need to have three people in our lives. Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy.

Paul is the older one you can learn from. His start was rocky, but God touched him and changed his life.
This is someone I would want in my life. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 to 14 are attributed to him.

Barnabas (a friend to Paul) would be the friend who sees the good in you and isn’t afraid of telling others Acts 9:26-27.
Yet a friend who will tell you when you are wrong and go another way for a while.
Acts 15:36-41 later states they continue in active ministry together.

Timothy is the one you can mentor.
Paul describes him as a brother (1 Thessalonians 3:2), son (1 Timothy 1:2),
and coequal in the Lord’s work (1 Corinthians 16:10).
These scriptures all show Timothy was taught under Paul.

So now the real question can you think of people close to you who fit these characteristics? It is essential to have someone who we can learn from, someone who will call us on our stuff and still work with us, and someone we can mentor for the future.