He’s kind of a background player in the overall story of the New Testament. Saved as a young man, he and Paul developed a very strong bond and he faithfully accompanied Paul on many of his travels . . . often being asked to stay behind and do “the follow up work” or being sent back in order to encourage the believers and find out how things were going. Reference to him is frequently made in Paul’s letters . . . and, he was himself a recipient of two epistles from Paul. That Paul loved him . . . that Paul valued him . . . is clear. According to Paul, there was no one like him.

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” (Philippians 2:19-22 ESV)

Timothy was with Paul when Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi (Php 1:1). And though Paul was a bit predisposed at the moment (aka chained to Roman guards in a Roman prison) his care for the saints was such that he wanted to be with them . . . he wanted to care for them . . . he wanted to encourage them . . . and he wanted to be encouraged BY them as he observed their faithful walk and service to the risen Lord. What’s the next best thing to being there himself? Have Timothy go . . . for there’s no one like him.

Actually, based on the few study tools I have access to on my computer, this might be a case where the NKJV and the NASB got it “more right” than did the ESV. The NKJV says of Timothy, ” For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state,” while the NASB renders it, “for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”

In Paul’s estimation there was no one like Timothy, because none was as like-minded with the blessed apostle as was Timothy. They shared a similar spirit . . . they connected on a kindred basis . . . literally, they were “equal in soul.”

Paul trusted these upstart churches to Timothy’s care and follow up because Timothy was genuinely concerned for their welfare . . . just as Paul was. Did Paul “labor” for believers to grow up until Christ was formed in them? (Gal. 3:19) . . . Timothy did too. Would Paul “pour himself out” as an offering in order to encourage and enhance “the sacrificial offering” of those he had “fathered” into the kingdom? (Php. 2:17) . . . so too Timothy was less concerned about himself than he was the things of the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. There was no one like-minded as Timothy . . . there was no one like him.

Timothy was the real thing. He possessed the mind of Christ . . . the mind of a servant who did not grasp after the benefits of ministry but sought only to be a minister . . . who humbly counted others worth the effort of putting out — whether it was traveling miles and miles between churches or having to deal with the many, many trials presented by church members . . . who looked not to his own interests but to the interests of the other sheep for whom the Great Shepherd had given His life. Timothy was tested, tried, and proven . . . no one like him.

Oh, that I too would be like-minded . . . that I might know more and more the kindred spirit of those who are genuinely concerned for the welfare of others . . . that, though there is no one like him, I might be a bit more like Timothy . . . by the grace of Christ . . . through the power of the Spirit . . . for the glory of God.