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Cowardice

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

 

Yesterday at work, I came face to face with my cowardice. Cowardice might be too strong a term. Timidity might be better. I got to work with a full-time coworker who has been working with the person in charge of the decorations we carry. Our boss didn’t happen to be there, so she texted him to ask for marching orders, went to another authority to get paperwork, and got to work on some boxes of stuff that were well away from the registers.

I immediately saw the difference between us. She had no problem diving in, while I couldn’t imagine checking with my boss except regarding my schedule. It’s not that I’m not a hard worker; it’s that taking initiative (in my thinking) is likely to get me in trouble for going beyond my place. I’ll step on someone’s toes. I might do something wrong.

The idea of learning from her came to mind. So did today’s verse; I’m glad it did because it is interesting. The first item of note is the word spirit. In the NIV, as shown above, it’s translated as Spirit. In the NASB, it’s spirit. Other translations choose one or the other, and I suspect it’s an ongoing debate among the scholars. Instead of choosing a side, I will point out that if the spirit involved is the Spirit, He will certainly work in our lives to produce a spirit that is in His image, so He will have given us a Spirit that gives us a spirit.

The next interesting thing about the spirit is that it’s a spirit. According to Dallas Willard, the spirit refers to the heart – the innermost core of a person, which was (at the time the verse was written) the seat of the will. The thing about my cowardice or timidity is that it’s a habitual response, meaning it’s an attitude. And the answer involves power, love, and a sound mind. The answer to a problem of the spirit is the Spirit, effort, love, and good thinking. And I need to think about this more.

 

 

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