It may be a difficult discussion with a friend. You may be facing a scary doctor’s visit, or maybe you think back to the time when you had to go toe-to-toe with the bully at school that gave you chills every time you saw him. You’re trying to work up the courage to talk to a girl, or maybe you’re nervous about learning to drive or taking that big test you've barely studied for.
Regardless of the reason, if you’re scared or nervous, maybe you have a Christian friend you can rely on to shove 2 Timothy 1:7 at you, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
So don’t be scared or nervous.
Coffee Cup Commentary
This is a great verse for those times when life’s circumstances are making us uneasy and we can’t muster the courage to take the next step. Just remember that God does not intend for us to be scared. This passage tells us the opposite; instead of being scared we can have confidence. We’re empowered (even if we don’t feel like it) and we can express love and self-control instead of being cowardly, timid, or just plain uneasy.
Context
Paul, the author of this verse, was in as much a position to be scared as anyone. He was facing his second imprisonment in Rome, one which was stricter than the first and would eventually end in his death (2 Timothy 1:16, 4:6). This epistle was to be the last thing the young pastor would hear from Paul. The apostle writes for Timothy to not become complacent. He exhorts him, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6). This early part of the letter is a summons to a courageous defense of the gospel of Christ and a fearless perseverance in serving the Lord.
The activity of God in the believer is Paul’s focal point in verse seven. What God does inside a Christian is a motive for the exhortations on both sides of the verse. In verse six, he wants his child in the faith to “fan into flame the gift.” In verse eight, he calls on Timothy to respond to the spirit God gives by both not being ashamed of the testimony of the Lord and sharing in suffering “by the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8).
The work of God is the source of strength, and the spirit He gives to believers is the flame that must be fanned. Fearfulness is not a characteristic God gives to a believer. We all struggle with it, and Paul is not condemning Timothy or anyone else for feeling fear. Instead, this verse assures us that we can trust the Spirit of God to help us live more consistently with who we are in Christ.
The “power” Paul refers to is given by God and reveals the fearlessness we ought to have. We do not look to ourselves to “not be afraid” but to God. Nowhere in the passage are we told God makes us powerful, but we are told He gives us a spirit of power. This term for power is used throughout the New Testament, especially in the Gospels with reference to the power of Jesus to do mighty acts. It is God’s power, not our own, in which we place our trust. Part of the reason we will experience fear is because we doubt the sufficiency of the supply of power in Jesus. God who works in us (Philippians 2:13) is more than able to help us stand unashamed of His good news.
It’s interesting that Paul here contrasts love with fear. We read elsewhere, “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). When the love God pours into the heart of a regenerated person is being “fanned into a flame” then it overcomes the reservations we feel as a result of fearfulness.
Paul also wants Timothy to grasp that the spirit God gives makes us rational, sound-minded, self-controlled people. In the face of temptations as well as when we are called upon to live out the gospel, the fact that we are given a spirit of sounded-mindedness helps us to overcome our natural tendency to shrink back through fear.
What we Miss
The truths Paul writes in verse seven presuppose a need and a response. They are addressed to believers who are laboring for the gospel and who will face suffering, not a people simply trying to escape their own personal fears.
I am not saying this verse only applied to Timothy, or to ministers, or to people in situations similar to Paul or Timothy. On the contrary, 2 Timothy 1:7 is for all Christians, in all places, in all times. After all, we are all called to stir up the gifts God gives us for the expansion of His Kingdom. We are called to not be ashamed of “the testimony about our Lord,” and we will experience suffering.
Paul had felt the strength God gives His people in trying times (Philippians 4:17-18). He knows from personal experience that despite suffering and the threat of death, the very things calculated to cause fear in us, God has still given us a spirit of “power and love and self-control.”
