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Fan The Flames

           For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (II Timothy 1:6-7)

          What’s your gift? If you read about spiritual gifts, you’ll be assured that everyone has at least one. You may have taken assessments to find out what yours is. And, if you’re like me, you’ll have two reactions: excitement and disappointment. Oh boy! I’m gifted! But the gift itself might not be exciting. Others may not be impressed. It might not be as impressive as I’d like it to be. Perhaps more importantly, no one else may be impressed. They might even be offended.

          But Paul urged Timothy to fan to flame the gift of God. Curiously, he doesn’t say what the gift is. One possible reason for that is because there was more than one, and which one needed to be fanned at the time depended on which one was either needed or cooling embers. Another reason might be that Paul knew that the advice didn’t only apply to Timothy. Another possibility is that Paul does tell us. When the Apostles laid hands on others, the other received the Holy Spirit. And Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us power, love, and self-discipline. In effect, then, Paul may have been telling Timothy to fan the flames of the power, love, and self-discipline.

          In other words, Paul was telling Timothy to be courageous and to work hard. Being timid and lazy is so much more comfortable. We can shrug our shoulders and say, “I don’t know what my gift is,” as if that frees us from the responsibility to act or even to care. It’s safer that way, but it’s not what God tells us to do.

          So how do we fan the flames of the power we’ve been given? It starts with prayer and faith, of course. One way is to learn. If you learn how to do something or how to better do something, it gives you more capacity to do things – more power. Another way is to build relationships, which involves our loving the people we love more, and loving the people we don’t love more. It means doing more that is in their best interest (even if they don’t appreciate it.) And, it means sticking with what we know to be true – not getting caught up in the world’s insanity or emotionalism. We are to know the truth, and the truth will set us free. In freedom, we can use the power we have, in love.

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