Power part 2
Real power isn't about crushing people. Its about loving people. Yesterday we saw that the spirit of fear that God has NOT given us is all about being afraid to do something. Being afraid to love. Because opening yourself up like that CAN be scary. Especially if you do it with the idea of getting something out of it. And let me say this as clearly as I can: If you think loving somebody is about getting something out of it, you're 100% wrong. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. And that's where the second part of 2 Timothy 1:7 comes in: "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Power. Love. A sound mind. Three things that are really one thing. Kind of like how 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Three things that are really one thing. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Three things that are one thing. So we need to look at what God HAS given us, quite simply, as love. He gave us Himself. And He is love. And then, when we understand that--when we understand that a sound mind is the mind of Christ, which only has love on the brain, and that love IS the power of God--when we understand that its all love, that's when we can start to look at the different aspects of love. But for today I want to focus on that phrase, "a sound mind." It is number 4995 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means--get ready--"Discipline, that is self control." Now there's another movie quote that fits right here. I know, I watch a lot of movies. It goes, "I'm not crazy. I'm in control." And that's kind of the first thing we think about in regards to a sound mind, right? We think about the opposite of crazy. Or at least I do, at first blush. But its so much more than that. Its about controlling your thought life. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Now what this DOESN'T mean is that we are supposed to wear ourselves slap out by chasing every stray thought we have. In fact, just the opposite. It means you don't have to believe everything you think. It means you can SET your affection on things above, and not on things on the earth. You can have some discipline in your life, and even under grace--especially under grace--that's not a bad thing. Because just because you CAN do something, that doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. And if you're letting that mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you, by using it, then you're thinking the thoughts of God. The thoughts of love. You're obeying Christ. The New Commandment that says love one another as Christ loves you. You're thinking about love, and letting those thoughts--that Word--become flesh in your actions. Charity. Love in action. Letting Christ's love control you. That's what self control is. Its not trying to fit into a box. Its receiving and releasing--receiving BY releasing--the love of God. Using the power we've been given to help people. Seeing a need and meeting it. Not squandering what we've been given, but sharing what we've been given. And I'm telling you--I'm gonna keep saying it--when you love someone with no expectations... that's powerful. And because its powerful, it takes power. But we'll get there tomorrow.