the life of a Christian: "A life of power, love, and self-discipline"
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
It seems to me that we have traded in the Spirit’s gift of power, love, and self-discipline for a very passive, timid gospel. At least in my culture I hear time and time again, “don’t pressure anyone; let them figure it out themselves; its ok if they don’t make a decision for Christ that’s their own right; let’s just live the way we want to and let others do the same.” The result of this attitude is a complacent Christianity that unbelievers want no part of; not only that, but it seems to be a practice of Christianity that is contrary to the gospel. I have recently learned of a practice in the Methodist Church of Zimbabwe Africa. In Zimbabwe a person must lead another person to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ before they can join the Church. This is a practice that seems to live right into this text; it affirms that the gospel we are called to proclaim is everything but timid and this gospel calls us to depend upon the Spirit’s grace to give us power, love, and self-discipline that we are equipped to actively love the world to heaven. I wonder what would happen if everyone who belonged to a local church in the USA had to lead someone else to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ every year to remain a member of Jesus’ Church. One of two things would happen: 1) the Church in the USA would die or 2)there would be a gospel explosion like we’ve never seen!
Lord, let me begin this morning by asking for your forgiveness for those times that I have substituted your gospel of power, love, and self-discipline for some generic timid offshoot that doesn’t embody the gospel that you walked, talked, lived, and died for. May you give me the grace today to live an active life of faith that is rooted in depending upon the Holy Spirit as my source of power, love, and self-discipline. Lord, I cannot do this on my own today; I need you to be the conductor of my life and lavish upon me the grace that might empower me to embody this verse and partner with you in loving the world to heaven. Amen!!!
Jesus invites me into an active life of power, love, and self-discipline; nothing about this life is timid.
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