Day 29: 2 Timothy 1:6-7

“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 God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”


Fear often controls our life. Even as Christians, we are often afraid to do what God has given us to do. This is for many reasons: we’re afraid of what people will say about us; we’re afraid of what people will do to us; we’re afraid of failure; sometimes we’re even afraid of where God will take us if we obey Him. Fear can be a paralyzing feeling; so paralyzing, in fact, that we don’t obey God.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s okay to be afraid. But it’s not okay to let that fear control you. The definition of courage is doing what needs to be done even when you’re scared to death.

It is obvious that Timothy was dealing with fear as Paul wrote him in 2 Timothy. To Timothy, it must have seemed that the world was crashing: Paul was in prison, about to be executed; Timothy, wanting to be with his mentor, no doubt, was in Ephesus, trying to guide the churches in one of the largest and most pagan cities in the empire. Fear was natural, but it was obviously starting to take too strong a hold on young Timothy.

Paul gently reminds Timothy of something very important. Christ drives out fear. With Christ there is no fear, because you can’t lose. Like Paul said in Philippians, if you live, you get the continued blessing of service. If you die, you go to heaven to be with Christ. Win-Win.

Timothy had lost sight of this, just like many of us have today. Paul tells Timothy that the time he was spending in fear and worry would be better served honing the gifting that Paul had himself initiated in Timothy. Timothy had obviously lost his fire. When we become afraid, we pay more attention to the fear than to God, and He can’t use us. Our flame begins to die, until we are paralyzed from our fear and barely shining. Paul reminds Timothy, as I am reminding you, to trust in Christ and whip that gift into a roaring bonfire that the whole world can see.

Paul finally reminds Timothy that fear isn’t from God, it’s from Satan. God gives us power, love, and self-control. Fear brings the opposite of these: uselessness, selfishness, or self-preservation, and reaction rather than self-control. In other words, when we’re afraid, we have no power (because of our lack of faith), no love (because you’re trying to preserve yourself, and not others), and finally, no self-control (you do stupid things when fear is controlling your life). Those aren’t the marks of a Christ-Centered life. It’s okay to be afraid. It’s not okay to let that fear take control you. Trust in God. Don’t let the flame go out.

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: it’s okay to be afraid, but we can’t let fear control us. When we let fear control us we lose our power, love, and control.

Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Matthew 10:28

Prayer: Father, keep fear far from me. Help me to have such faith in you that I don’t let fear control my life. Help me to deal with my fear in a godly way, and to seek out others to help me deal with it. In Christ’s name I pray, Amen.