For God has not given us a spirit of timidity,
but of power and love and discipline.
II Timothy 1:7
Those
of you who learned this from the King James would substitute the word
fear for timidity, and, of course, both words are correct. The Greek
word used here is deilia, and it is the only time it is used in the New Testament. The normal word for fear that is used in the NT is phobeo, from which we get our word phobia; and it usually conveys being frightened. The word deilia
conveys more the result, the condition of the psyche because of the
fear; and, as such, is most literally translated cowardice. If you read the book of II Timothy
you understand that Paul is telling Timothy not to be a coward in light
of the persecution, suffering, and hardship he is facing. Fear was
causing Timothy to retreat from the ministry to which God had called
him, and Paul is encouraging Timothy to rekindle the gift God had given
him and to stand firm in preaching the word amidst all obstacles.
Fear
is one of the great weapons of the enemy, and all of us have our fears;
and if I were to list them all, this would be the longest post in
history. Fear is a great controller and most of us let our fears,
whether rational or irrational, control us; which is just what the enemy
wants. And it can be the biggest impediment to our spiritual growth
and progress in Christlikeness. You notice that I said, "Let our fears
control us." because fear only has the power over us that we allow it to
have. What then is the antidote to fear? How do we combat it? How do
we control it, versus letting it control us?
We
need to understand how to handle fear, our fear(s), because we all have
them. The question then is not do we have fear, but how do we handle
fear when it comes up and puts its grip on us. Courage is not the
absence of fear, but doing what needs to be done, doing what is
right, in spite of the fear. For the Christian, it is having the
spiritual courage to honor the Lord in spite of the consequences. So how
do we appropriate spiritual courage?
Paul gives us both general and specific remedies for fear in this letter to Timothy. The general remedy is found in II Timothy 2:1 as he tells Timothy, "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." And in II Timothy 1:7 we
see what God, by His grace, has specifically supplied to all of us to
combat fear/spiritual cowardice, and that is power, love, and
discipline. In fact, what the verse tells us is that spiritual timidity
is not from the Lord, He has not given it to us; but instead has given
us the opposite. Power, love, and discipline are the weapons He has
given us to combat the fear that leads to spiritual cowardice, and God
by His grace has supplied them to us. So let's see how they aid us in
our battle against fear.
Power Overcomes Fear
In
essence, power overpowers fear, and God has given us a spirit of power,
or spiritual power. It is not our power, but His power in us, working
in us and through us. Listen to these verses from Ephesians:
1:18-20 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know...what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.
3:16, 20 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man...Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us..
First,
let's pay attention to whose power is at work. It is God's power, His
mighty power, that even death cannot defeat. Hebrews 2:14 tells us that
Christ has rendered powerless the one who had (noticed the past tense)
the power of death, the devil himself. God demonstrated His power over
death and the devil by raising Christ from the dead; and it is Christ
who is now standing in the heavens with the keys of death and Hades in
his hand
Next, let's see where this undefeated and undefeatable power resides. Within you, in your inner man, through the indwelling person and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. I John 4:4 tells us this, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that resides in you, and God's power in Christ, in all of its unmatched greatness and magnificence, is directed toward you like a laser beam. This is true empowerment from the One who has all power, and He has given it to us and placed it in us.
Next, let's see where this undefeated and undefeatable power resides. Within you, in your inner man, through the indwelling person and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. I John 4:4 tells us this, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that resides in you, and God's power in Christ, in all of its unmatched greatness and magnificence, is directed toward you like a laser beam. This is true empowerment from the One who has all power, and He has given it to us and placed it in us.
How do we activate this indwelling power? We do so by humbling ourselves in obedience to Him. James 4:7 tells us, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." In Isaiah 66:2 God tells us this, "But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word." We have the perfect example of humility and its corresponding obedience in Christ. Philippians 2:8 tells us this, "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
When we are confronted by fear, we are to look obediently to Him, and
be obedient to Him; and in our obedience His power will be activated in
us, and in our obedience we will overcome the fear. Our focus on Him and
being obedient to Him takes our focus off our fear.
Love Casts Out Fear
Where
there is love there is no room for fear. Sounds almost too simple
doesn't it? We must understand that fear is a great motivator, and most
of us, really all of us, are motivated by fear to some degree. In other
words, many times, the reason we do what we do is because of fear.
However, as great a motivator as fear is, there is a greater motivator,
really the greatest motivator, and that is love. So, for the Christian,
our motivation, what spurs us on, what delights us, and what controls us
is love, our love for God and love for others.
I John 4:18 tells us, "There is no fear in love; but perfect (mature) love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (retribution/consequences we don't want), and the one who fears is not perfected (mature) in love." Also, in II Corinthians 5:14-15 we learn,
"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that
one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they
who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and
rose again on their behalf." If you are living for yourself,
concentrating on yourself, worrying about yourself, then fear will
always control you. When you love God with all your heart, soul, mind,
and strength; love your neighbor as your self and love the brethren as
Christ loved them; then you aren't preoccupied with yourself and it is
the love of Christ that is controlling you, and fear has been moved out
of the driver's seat and to the back of the bus. When it is our love for
God that is motivating us we will be like Paul, who suffered the loss
of all things and considered them but rubbish because he had gained
Christ.
Discipline Controls Fear
The Greek word for discipline is sophronismos,
and means a sound mind, sound judgment, literally a mind under control.
It is a rational mind in contrast to the irrationality of fear. It is a
mind controlled by the truth, thoughts that are guided by the truth,
thinking that is permeated with the truth. Proverbs 3:25 tells us, "Do not be afraid of sudden fear." This speaks to the terror that irrationality, those irrational fears,
bring upon us. We are not to be gripped and controlled by such fear. In
John 8:32
we see that when we know the truth, the truth will make us free. In
other words the knowledge of the truth releases us from bondage. Knowing
the truth breaks the grip that fear has on our life and controls our
thoughts instead of fear. It does not let fear in the driver's seat of
our mind.
Philippians 4:8
tells us what our minds are to dwell upon, and these attributes serve
as filters to keep fear in its proper place, under control. First, we
are to think only on what is true. If it is not true, totally true, we
are to reject it. Fear always dwells around the borders of the
truth, and will always skew the truth or be based on partial truth. The greatest truth we can let our mind dwell upon is the truth about God, and we find the truth about God in the Word of truth that He has given us. This truth is the foundational stone upon which we are to rest our thoughts. Secondly, even if it is true, if it's not honorable we are not to dwell
on it. Thirdly, it must be right, the right thing to think about,
something that causes and promotes right thoughts...right about God,
right about others, right about ourselves, and right about the
situation (It is amazing how fear promotes thoughts that are not right
or true about God, others and ourselves, dishonoring all; and causes us
to blow the situation out of proportion). Next, it must be pure,
promoting holiness in our thinking, not rottenness. This is to be
followed by thinking about what is lovely and is of good repute. Thoughts based on fear are never lovely. And, interestingly, the word
for good repute means words of good omen. Fear never brings about words
of good omen, but always the opposite...doom, gloom, and tragedy. Finally, we are to have our minds dwell on those things which are
excellent and praiseworthy. When we allow ourselves to think upon and
dwell upon what is less than the best, thoughts that are worthy only of
the gutter, we are supplying fear with rich fertile soil from which to
grow. Fear always assumes the worst and dwells upon all that is bad.
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