Power, Love And Self-Discipline (Part One Of Two)

POWER, LOVE AND SELF-DISCIPLINE (part one)

The back of Sergii's shirt at the Men's Retreat. 2 Tim. 1:7, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

1) No fear!

2 Tim. 1:5-7, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 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 did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

We see Paul encouraging Timothy by reminding him that he has sincere faith. He reminds him of the generational aspect of his faith, that started with his grandmother, was seen in his mother and is now in him. Paul wants to show him how the pattern had been set for where Timothy is now.

Timothy was Paul's young protégé. Paul had been grooming him to be a Minister. So, because of Timothy's sincere faith and the calling God gave him, Paul encourages him to fan into the flame the spiritual gift he has been given. The spark that God ignited needed to grow and become a raging fire within Timothy.

But Timothy had an issue with being timid. We might equate timidity with fear. Although there is a connection, being timid can mean I'm shy, nervous, apprehensive, etc. Being young, he was concerned about older men listening to him and respecting his position.

1 Tim. 4:12, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

Paul encouraged Timothy to let the light shine so that his age would cease to be a factor. Timothy had spiritual maturity beyond his years. Physical age isn't that important; it's not indicative of effectiveness for Christ. There are young people who are further along in their spiritual maturity than some of the older folks.

Timothy had a pastoral gift but I'm thinking that scared him more than it excited him. It's interesting how people can see things in us that we can't see ourselves. Sometimes what people see in us is something we might not want to be there. "Oh, I can see you doing this for the Lord" or, "I think you'd be good at this" and we're like, "oh, no, not me; I could never do that".

God is in the business of equipping us to do things that are beyond our current scope of believability. Being a Pastor was something Timothy approached with a certain amount of apprehension. But Paul wasn't going to allow him to 'put out the fire'. Instead, he encouraged him to stir those embers around and get the bellows pumping.

We need people like Paul in our lives to encourage us to use the gifts God has given us. People who motivate, inspire and challenge us to take it to the next level. We might not like their prodding but down the line we'll be thankful that we listened to them.

1 Thess. 5:19 tells us to not quench the spirit's fire. If we quench the flames of fear we'll be able to fan into flame the fires of power, love and self-discipline. It's interesting that Paul lists these three things as a counter to timidity. Why these three? Today we'll look at the first one-power.

2) Power.

2 Tim. 1:8-12, "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."

Can you sense Paul's courage and godly confidence here? Suffering for Christ and being imprisoned for Christ didn't slow Paul down. Paul had this courage and boldness because he knew the power that was at work within him. And he trusted fully the one who gave him that power.