Our Spirit

2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

7 οὐ γὰρ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμα δειλίας ἀλλὰ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ σωφρονισμοῦ.

In this second letter Paul is giving Timothy some exhortations.  Remember, this is the last time Paul would write to Timothy, so he had to make this count.  Here he explains about how Timothy received the Holy Spirit after Paul laid hands on him and prayed over him.  This verse explains the type of spirit we received.  It is one of δυνάμεως καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ σωφρονισμοῦ.

This is one of those verses that can actually go well on the bathroom mirror or on an index card.  I am normally against turning Scripture into fortune cookie aphorisms, but this verse contains a promise that we would do well to remember often.  God did not save us so that we might be timid.  This has all kinds of implications.

For example, when you sense the Holy Spirit prompting you to tell someone about Jesus, how do you react?  Is it out of fear or is it out of His power?  I'm afraid that I fail at that frequently.  When you look at your life are you worried about how you can possibly make ends meet or do you trust in God's provision for your life?  When you approach an unknown situation do you trust in God's sovereign care over your life or do you think through all the possible ways that things can and will go wrong?

We could go through a myriad of applications with this verse.  Paul wrote this to Timothy specifically about Timothy's ministry.  However, I don't think we need to stop there.  Let's remember that God's Holy Spirit is one of power and not δειλίας, amen?