POWER, LOVE AND SELF-DISCIPLINE (part two)
Recap: 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." Timidity and fear are debilitating. Paul wanted Timothy to overcome being timid so he could fulfill his calling and operate in the spirit of power, love and self-disciple.
Last week we looked at how we need to operate in the spirit of power. When we're convinced of the power that is at work within us through Christ we can overcome temptations to operate in fear and timidity. Today we will see how we need to overcome timidity if we are going to operate in the spirit of love and self-discipline.
1) Love.
God has not given us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of love. We might more readily see how having a spirit of timidity gets in the way of operating in the spirit of power but how does timidity get in the way of operating in the spirit of love?
Paul suffered for the gospel. The message of salvation through Christ started when God so loved the world he sent Jesus. Jesus dealt with the temptation to operate in fear and timidity. I don't know if Jesus dealt with insecurity, shyness or nervousness, but if he did there was no way he could reach out and love people unless he overcame that.
Whenever he needed to confront the Pharisees in love he couldn't have done it if he had caved in to fear. Fear could've kept him from approaching the Samaritan woman. He knew Jews and Samaritans didn't like each other. But Jesus wanted to minister to Samaritans, regardless of how they may have viewed him.
Timidity could've kept him from telling the mourners that Jairus' daughter wasn't dead, but asleep. He knew he would be laughed at. But his spirit of love overrode any element of timidity he may have had to not go through with the situations he faced.
If we know we need to speak into someone's life about something; love is the force that enables us to overcome our fear of their response. Jesus had to overcome any apprehension to die for our sins. But his love for the father and his love for us compelled him to wipe away the drops of sweat and blood from his brow and go to Golgotha.
1 John 4:18, There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Part of the reason God's perfect love drives out fear is because when we're convinced of his forgiveness and love for us then we know we have nothing to fear. When we know God is our protective, caring, loving Father then we know we will have no reason to fear, worry or doubt. We don't have to play the 'what if' game; we don't need to be consumed with how things will turn out. God's love washes away our fears and replaces them with peace and assurance.
When John says, 'fear has to do with punishment' he's talking about how we truly see God. Are we afraid of God? Do we see him as a God who is waiting for us to sin so he can punish us? That's not a healthy view of God. That view of God will immobilize us and not allow us to operate in a spirit of love.
But what about Prov. 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom"? This is a different kind of fear than the fear John is referring to. The fear John is talking about is being afraid of God resulting in running away from him. This fear is rooted in shame, guilt and worldly sorrow. This fear is rooted in believing the lie that God won't forgive us. This is the fear that pushes us away from God.
The fear of Prov. 9:10 is the Holy fear that causes us to take God and his word seriously. This fear draws us closer to God. Heb. 11:7 says that Noah had holy fear. But Gen. 6:9 says Noah walked with God which means he was close to him. Noah's fear didn't push him away from God, it drew him closer to God.
If we go about in fear then we haven’t understood or really trusted in God’s love that saved us through Jesus. If we are still in fear of his judgment then we haven’t allowed his perfect love to assure us that we are his.
However, although we don’t walk around in fear of judgment, that doesn’t mean we don’t fear God’s discipline. That's why we are self-disciplined; we don't want to have to deal with God's discipline. We know God's love and forgiveness but we also respect his holiness and power.
2) Self-discipline.
Ok, so we've seen how timidity gets in the way of operating in power and love, but how is timidity the counter to self-discipline? One way I see this at work is in peer pressure. We want to do the right thing but all our friends are doing the wrong thing. Timidity keeps me from standing up for myself and saying 'no'. Instead, I cave in and go with the crowd.
1 Pet. 4:3-4, "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you."
Have you ever had someone try to make you feel bad about doing the right thing? It's not easy to live for Jesus. It's a blessing beyond comparison but it's still challenging. This is especially true for teens and young adults. Turning away from doing the things your friends are doing so that you can honor Christ will set you up for ridicule and possibly loneliness when your friends don't want to hang out with you anymore.
If I'm afraid of what people will think of me; if I'm afraid of not having my friends then I will compromise to please myself rather than honor God and be self-disciplined.
Another way I see this principle working is when I worry. Self-discipline would have me resist the temptation to steal, cheat or lie. Fear can be the driving force behind telling lies. I lie to avoid getting into trouble. But if I was operating in a spirit of discipline, I would avoid telling the lie, tell the truth instead and deal with whatever happens.
In the KJV, instead of self-discipline, it says, a sound mind. Albert Barnes' commentary reads, "The Greek word denotes one of sober mind; a man of prudence and discretion. The state referred to here is that in which the mind is well balanced, and under right influences; in which it sees things in their just proportions and relations; in which it is not feverish and excited, but when everything is in its proper place. It was this state of mind which Timothy was exhorted to cultivate; this which Paul regarded as so necessary to the performance of the duties of his office."
If we are timid or fearful, we are not of sound mind; we are not exhibiting self-discipline/self-control. So we can be sure that our thoughts, words and actions will not be appropriate when we are operating under a fearful mind. It makes sense. When we're timid or fearful, our thoughts are generally irrational ones. We conjure up worst-case scenarios and we can be prone to panic and making rash decisions. But the mind controlled by God is stable, rational, wise and discerning. The Spirit God gives us is one of order, not chaos. God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (a sound mind).
3) Peace.
We looked at how the spirit of timidity runs counter to operating in a spirit of power, love and self-discipline. I came across something interesting that we can add to this. Doing a search on the question, What is the opposite of fear, yielded some interesting results. Some sites said love or happiness is the opposite of fear. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus, some antonyms of fear are: assurance, boldness, confidence and courage.
But I came across a blog that got me thinking: The opposite of fear is NOT courage, by Marshall Jones Jr. "Fear describes a state not an action; courage describes an action. If you’re afraid, you’re in a state of fear, like in that moment right before you’re called up to the platform to give a speech. You’re sitting there, trembling, rehearsing again and again the reasons you’re afraid, trying to justify that fear. But then you’re called, your feet walk you to the podium, and you begin. That’s courage. You’re still trembling, your voice might even crack as you start to speak, but you’re going ahead anyway. You’re acting despite the fear. Fear is the state you’re in. Courageous is how you’re acting in that state.
But what if you could change that state entirely? What if you could move beyond fear? What if you didn’t have to do anything courageous because you were no longer afraid? That would be the true opposite of fear. And that I call peace. Peace is the state where you no longer have to act courageously because there’s no need. It’s the calm, the rest, the inner tranquility where you don’t just kill the resistance, you realize it doesn’t even exist.
And all this time I was shooting for courage. No wonder I didn’t get anywhere. Courage is only the path, not the destination. It’s like I woke up: the destination is peace. Peace, Marshall! The opposite of fear is peace."
When I saw this I almost didn't read it since I considered the opposite of fear to be courage. But as I processed the article it brought to mind a couple of passages that helped me to see his point. The antonym for peace is uproar. Some synonyms for uproar include chaos and pandemonium. What drives things like pandemonium and chaos? Fear. If you remove pandemonium you're left with order, peace, calm.
Panic comes to mind also. Fear is a synonym for panic and an antonym for panic is calm. This brings to mind when Jesus and the disciples were sailing and a sudden storm rose up. The situation was chaotic. The wind is blowing and the waves are crashing; the storm was fierce. The disciples were in a frenzy but Jesus was asleep. The disciples were terrified but Jesus wasn't. Why not?
Although it's true that Jesus had courage, his ability to sleep was because he was at peace. He knew there was nothing to fear because he had command over the situation. Which is why we do have fears-we don't have command over things outside of our control. Does that mean we're allowed to panic? No, because Jesus has given us his peace to be able to handle it.
John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Look at Jesus' life and you'll see that perfect peace. When the religious leaders were contentious with him he didn’t flip out-he maintained control-he was at peace. When he was arrested-at peace. When he was falsely accused-at peace. When he was stripped, beaten and nailed to the cross-at peace. How?
Jesus had a close connection with his Father and he never took his focus off him. He knew there was no reason to doubt. He knew there was nothing to fear. The perfect peace that Jesus had he has offered to us. Being at peace doesn't result from having an absence of conflict and suffering; it's there despite it.
That's the difference between the peace Jesus offers vs. the peace the world offers. If someone says they want world peace, they typically mean a world without war and conflict. That would be nice, but this peace is conditional. As long as things are going well, there is peace.
But, if a wrench is thrown in the system then peace vanishes. As long as you're peaceful with me I'll be peaceful with you. But if that changes then my state of peace quickly comes to an end. But the peace that Jesus gives, the peace that is established through being at peace with God is not temporary or conditional-it's continual-despite the circumstances I’m in or the people I’m around.
John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Having peace isn't the absence of trouble. Jesus made it clear that in this world trouble will occur. But we can take heart-we can be strong and courageous in facing our troubles. Jesus had it, Paul had it and he wanted Timothy to have it too. God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, self-discipline...and peace.
