Advent Day 22

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)

With a name that means “God-fearer,” we would expect Timothy to be more courageous than he appears in this Epistle. Raised by a Christian mother, mentored by the Apostle Paul, with more than a decade of intense ministry experience under his belt, we might assume Timothy to be a fearless, battle-hardened veteran. Instead, what we get is a seasoned pastor still wrestling mightily with his own anxieties; uncertain and unsettled. The God-fearer was frightened, tempted to turn tail and run at the prospect of facing the same suffering as his long-time mentor. The dangers Timothy faced in Ephesus were real, not imagined. Ephesus had a history of chewing up and spitting out ministers of the gospel. Whether it was fierce resistance by the Jews (Acts 19:9), demons overpowering exorcists (Acts 19:16), or violent rioting in the streets (Acts 19:21-41), Ephesus was no place for the faint of heart.

Whether the threat is real or imagined, physical or mental, near-at-hand or somewhere out there, our fears exert a powerful influence over us. They seek to drive us inward and downward, deeper into ourselves, rather than upward and outward towards God. Whenever we’re caught in the grip of our fears, the temptation will always be to look to our own resources to save ourselves. Self-dependence comes naturally. God-dependence does not. This is precisely why Paul writes: to speak a steadying gospel word to his wavering co-worker.

Instead of a spirit of fear, says Paul, God has given us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (self-control). Two things are apparent from this exhortation. The first is that God is never the source of fear. Anxiety and dread are never of the Lord but are instead alien to his nature and always come to us from the enemy. The second is that God has given us a stronger spirit, and it is threefold: power, love, and a sound mind. Perfect love, which casts out all fear (1 John 4:18), was displayed most fully at the cross, where Jesus died in victory over Satan and defeated death. Power (Greek dynamis, from which we get the English word for dynamite) explodes the insecurities that threaten to suffocate us since a greater force now controls us. And a sound mind comes from the peace of a healed relationship with the Prince of Peace, God himself.

The same is true for you, dear Christian. Your namesake, too, is “God-fearer,” and power, love, and a sound mind are yours in Christ Jesus.

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