Power part 1
Sometimes when I finish a Rant series it leads right into the next one. Sometimes it doesn't. This is one of the latter times. Because I had 2 Timothy 1:7 stuck in my head (in my heart), so I figured it was the right time to go ahead and explore it for a few days. First things first, the verse itself: "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." There's kind of a lot there. The juxtoposition between what we THINK we have (but don't really have, and don't have to act like we have), and what we ACTUALLY have. So let's start there. The spirit of fear. That word "fear" is number 1167 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means "timidity." Basically, being afraid to do something. Dictionary.com defines "timid" as "lacking in self-assurance, courage, or bravery; easily alarmed; shy." So its not so much that you're afraid that something will happen. More afraid that you can't do something. Which, by the way, is why 1 John 4:18 is so important: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." The spirit of fear that we so often operate under--but was NOT given to us by our heavenly Father--is the fear of loving. Of being able to love. And even though love is the desire of our heart (what else could it be?) I think for the most part we're terrified of love. Terrified of not having it... and even more terrified of having it. Because letting someone love you means opening up to them. Being vulnerable. Giving yourself to someone. And when you're that intimate with someone, you give them all the ammunition they need if they want to hurt you. I've felt for a long time that you can only truly hate the people that you love. Because otherwise you can't muster up enough energy to even care. Or at least I can't. When people do stuff that I don't like, or when they do stuff against me, 99% of the time I just shrug and say, "who cares?". Mind over matter, right? If you don't mind, they don't matter. But when you open yourself up to someone... that's when you can really get burned. And that's scary. But it doesn't have to be. When we realize that perfect love casts out fear. There is no fear in love. Because love is about the result. Love is about the act. Charity--love in action. Love isn't about what you get. Love is about giving everything you have and everything you are. Which, again, CAN be scary. Especially when you think, "If I give everything I've got and don't get anything back, well, I won't have anything. I'll be busted. Empty." But that's not love. Love is laying your life down for your friends. Love is knowing that you are connected to the unlimited source of love. That you can't give so much that you run out. In fact--and we might get into this in the next couple of days--giving love is how experience love. It doesn't run out when you give it away. It fills you up. I always talk about filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Well, that's how you do it. You give away what you've got. You dont' focus on getting. You focus on giving. You don't focus on yourself. You focus on others. Not self-centered, but Christ-centered. Which means people-centered. And while that CAN be scary, it doesn't HAVE to be. What it is... is powerful!