Power, Love and Self-Discipline
October 17, 2018·Jim Nelson
This week’s Pause reading plan ends by taking us to 2 Timothy 1, which is one of my favorite portions of scripture. I was greatly encouraged as, once again, I spent time reflecting on the encouragement the Apostle Paul is giving to Timothy, one of his sons in the faith, and I pray you will be too.
Paul begins by saying that he is persuaded that the “sincere faith,” which first lived in Timothy’s grandmother and mother now lived in him too. Then Paul boldly exhorts Timothy with the powerful words that we read in verses 6 & 7; “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 the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” I believe Paul is strongly encouraging Timothy to not give place to a human tendency of living in timidity, as some do, but to rather live victoriously by means of the “power, love and self-discipline” that God gave to him by His Spirit.
Timothy’s faith had not burnt out, but he needed this encouragement to fan it into a flame. Paul was devoted to helping Timothy develop into the leader God wanted him to be, even though at times he tended to shrink from the demands of ministry. The truth is that many of us need a bit of prodding from time to time to fan the flame of faith, which can so easily lose its glow and vitality with the passage of time. To rekindle it, we need to give more attention to prayer, the reading of God’s Word, and to regular worship with God’s people. And we must never forget that we too have the Spirit of “power, love and self-discipline.”
The great encouraging words of Paul to Timothy in these verses express a truth that would be good for all of us to hold deep inside our hearts and minds. We have no reason to give place to fear or timidity, because we are children of God, we’re disciples of Jesus, and God is with us in every situation we encounter. We too can rise above timidity by laying hold of the “power, love and self-discipline” that God gives to us by His Spirit. We must always be on guard to not let the weakness of our flesh, or our enemy the devil, cause us to stumble into timidity. Instead, God would have us stand strong in Him, the power of His might, and in the faith He gives us. In every situation we encounter, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and allow the Word of God and the promises of God to be our source of strength. As we do, we’re assured that the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to rise above any fear or timidity that tries to come against us.
Let’s all determine to freshly invite the Holy Spirit to generate in us all three benefits Paul reminds Timothy of in this passage. May we always remember that the Holy Spirit is the “power” of our lives (Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:20–21; Philippians 4:13). The Spirit also gives us “love,” for the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22). Our love for Christ, for the Word, for other believers and for the lost, must come from the Spirit. The Spirit also gives us “self-discipline,” and, as a result, we are not easily captured by our feelings or circumstances. When the Spirit is in control, we’ll experience peace and poise, and fear and timidity will vanish.
Pastor Jim Nelson
