This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare;

 Over and over again Paul's voice vibrates with affection when he speaks of Timothy. When he is sending him to that sadly divided Church at Corinth, he writes: "I have sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord" ( 1 Corinthians 4:17). When he is planning to send him to Philippi, he writes: "I have no one like him.... As a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel" ( Php_2:20 ; Php_2:22 ). Here he calls him "his true son." The word that he uses for "true" is gnesios ( G1103) . It has two meanings. It was the normal word for a legitimate child in contradistinction to illegitimate. It was the word for genuine, as opposed to counterfeit. 