I don’t know about you, but I can be pretty timid at times.
I don’t like confrontation, although I can do it when necessary. But sometimes, my natural inclination is to step back and not be directly involved.
Take a look at this week’s passage. It’s 2 Timothy 1:7:
In order to get a better handle on this, I looked up the words timidity and timid in the dictionary. Here’s what I found:
- lacking in self-assurance, courage, or bravery; easily alarmed; timorous; shy.
- characterized by or indicating fear: a timid approach to a problem.
God tells us pretty explicitly that he didn’t give us a spirit of timidity. You’d think that the opposite of that is that he gave us a spirit of boldness.
While that may be true, that isn’t what the text says. Paul writes that God gives us “a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Wait. What?
Timidity is lacking in self-assurance, courage or bravery. But Paul says that the opposite virtues are power, love and self-discipline.
Maybe we need to rethink our definition of timidity. Because I’ve never really associated it in the way Paul does.
So this week, I’ll be looking at my life and see where I need to apply more power, love and self-discipline.
And I might even do it boldly!
What areas of your life need to see this new opposite of timidity? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.