7 For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8 Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of
power, of courage and resolution, to meet difficulties and dangers; the spirit
of love to him, which will carry us through opposition. And the spirit of a
sound mind, quietness of mind. The Holy Spirit is not the author of a timid or
cowardly disposition, or of slavish fears.
Fear is that of the world and not of the Lord. I pray daily
that I do not encourage the spirit of fear into my daughter based on my own
fears of the world. I Tell her as often as I can that she can do anything that
she wants to do and don’t let anyone tell her any different if she trusts in
the Lord. The spirit of fear can come from parents, family, friends,
co-workers, bosses and spouses. We have to be mindful of that spirit and pray
to the Lord that he helps us to recognize this fear and rebuke this spirit as
it is not of Christ but of the devil.
With God the head of our lives we should be courageous and
find strength in him. If we put our faith Him there is NOTHING that we can’t do
or accomplish in our lives. There is no one that we should be fearful of. We should
walk tall and proud.
We should also pray for balance. There are times when we
need to be humble (not fearful) in situations. There are times when it is best not
to say anything and admit when we are wrong. There is a balance to all
situations in life and we must pray for that stability as we may not be fearful
but that can turn into being self-centered or egotistical or righteous.
The Christian doctrine is a trust committed to us; it is of
unspeakable value in itself, and will be of unspeakable advantage to us. It is
committed to us, to be preserved pure and entire, yet we must not think to keep
it by our own strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us; and
it will not be gained by those who trust in their own hearts, and lean to their
own understandings.
