January 3: A spirit of power, not fear

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.  (2 Timothy 1:6,7 — New English Translation)

We cannot live in fear. The world wallows around in fear, and most people around us are constantly afraid of all kinds of things. But when we have surrendered our lives to God and are trusting in Jesus’ promises to come true in our lives… there is no room for fear. The only fear we should have is the fear of God. When we have that, we should not fear anyone or anything else. In fact, if fear is more than a temporary distraction that we brush aside — if it is constant and oppressive — that is a sign that we are in serious spiritual trouble. That level of fear will kill us unless it is pulled up by the roots and dealt with immediately.

The spirit of power, love and self-control mentioned in this passage does not refer to the Spirit of God, but our spirit. God’s Spirit obviously helps us, but Paul is here referring to our part in allowing God’s power to flow through us. We all have the choice to be fearful or powerful, hateful or loving, lazy or self-controlled. God cannot, and will not, do what we need to do. 

In everyday life this means that we have to choose to resist fear and determine that we are powerful even when we don’t feel like it. We have God’s promises and the many stories of people of faith in the Bible — and in the present — who have overcome impossible odds, and so there is no reason for us to give in to fear. When people attack us and lie about us, we have to fight against the natural tendency to hate. We have to choose love over hate, knowing that they are deceived and in need of a Savior. This way we avoid the wasteful, toxic attitudes of unforgiveness and grudges, and slam the door in the face of demons who would like to work in our lives.

I wonder if the daily thoughts you have about yourself match up with this passage. Do you think of yourself as powerful, loving, and self-controlled? Do you call yourself these three things every day? If not, if you are constantly telling yourself the opposite, how can you ever hope to live up to this ideal? With the help of demons, many people allow themselves to be brainwashed into believing the exact opposite of what these verses communicate.

Let’s all begin to define ourselves with these three words: powerful, loving, self-controlled… just like Paul encouraged the young Timothy to do.