Skip to main content

Timidity

 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.  (II Timothy 1:7)

          What is the difference between being timid and being humble? I’ve read numerous translations of today’s verse many times over the years, but the question about timidity versus humility only came to mind today. To be humble is to choose not to put oneself forward. As an example, let’s say that you can bench press (raw) 750 lbs. It’s not quite a world record, but you know you can do it. You did a set today. Suppose you went to the gym and someone bench pressed 500 lbs., or 250, or 50. If you’re humble, you choose not to show him how it’s done. You don’t tell him, “Yeah, I remember when I was at that level.” At the moment, what matters is the other guy’s victory. On the other hand, timidity would involve not being able to tell him. Humbleness turns the focus on the other person. Timidity turns the focus away from oneself. “I’m a worm!” (in its normal meaning) is a statement of timidity.

          This isn’t what God has given us. He has given us a Spirit that gives us power, love, and self-discipline. We are able to do what He calls us to do. It may not be easy, but that doesn’t frighten us. We don’t have to turn the focus away from ourselves, but we can turn it to others.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more