ll Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity—of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear—but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well balanced mind and discipline and self control.” (Amplified)

If there were nominations for the perfect Scripture this would certainly in my estimation be included in that list.  Just as there are a few foods that are considered to be perfect because they provide so much bodily nutrition in a single unit, so this sole Scripture provides a perfect spiritual diet combination to feed and sustain our souls. This seemingly simple verse expands exponentially when we delve into all the nuances of each word.

So today begins a series of blogs as we explore together this exciting and mind tingling passage.  When I think of all this one verse holds for us it literally gives me goose bumps.  

The Scripture opens with “God has not given us a spirit of timidity —of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear…”  I love the wording of the Amplified Bible.  Timothy immediately grabs our attention by painting a picture of a despicable, depraved spirit that emanates from a place of lack, want, and misery.  This is Satan’s gift to us.  As is always the case God and Satan are diametrically opposed.   This is definitely not what our Heavenly Father wants for His children.  

Thankfully the Bible author quickly continues with what the replacement to this is—“ but He has given us a spirit of…”  and the description continues.  Notice it says He has given—this is a gift from God.  All we need do is open up our soul and heart and accept it just as we would stretch out our hands to receive a beautifully wrapped present from a loved one. Oh my goodness what an amazing and exciting present from our Heavenly Father to His beloved children.  This positive, goal enabling, brave, no holds barred spirit—God’s spirit—replaces the devil’s of timidity, cringing fear, and cowardice.  We do not need to pray for this—it has already been given.  We just need to pray for wisdom in the “how” of receiving it to its fullest.

The Spirit is the internal saturation that provides the “soil” for the seeds of this Scripture to grow.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to permeate our entire being so the other components in this verse can pulse uninterrupted through our spiritual veins.  We must open our emotions and intellect unconditionally to the Spirit’s entry into every aspect of our nature in order to enjoy the richest experience.

The order of this verse is no accident: power allows us full access in opening the gift in its entirety; perfect love in all its brilliance is generated because of that power while at the same time it enables the power to realize its optimum potential; calm comes about as a result of love; a well balanced mind is fostered by calmness; and that mind set allows the ability for discipline (the “to do”) and self control (the “do not”).

We are going to be looking in depth at each component of this amazing Spirit God will imbue us with when we unwrap His gift.  Next time we will concentrate our thoughts on the word “power”.  

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