2 Timothy 1:7-8 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord..."
I was thinking about this today and I believe fear is the opposite of trust. There are many different ways and levels of trusting someone but some off are: Trusting with your feelings, to keep a secret, to be honest, to do what they say they will do, with your possessions, with your heart, that they have your best intentions in mind, that they won't judge you, etc. I have a lot of really great people in my life that I do trust with all of this and more. For me though, the one person I've learned to trust more than anyone else, and with everything, is our Savior Jesus Christ.
So what does that mean for me? It means that even though I have trials that are not a lot of fun to go through I have complete trust in The Lord that there is a reason for these trials and that if I continue to put my trust in Him they will all work out to my benefit in the end. That has led me to increased faith. I have had a multitude of blessings as a result and that has only strengthened my faith more.
Going back to the scripture; if God isn't the one that has given us the spirit of fear than who has? What are we afraid of? That list will be different for everyone and can include things such as: The fear to change, the fear to try something hard, the fear to swallow your pride and do what you know you should, the fear to stand up for yourself, your family, your God. The fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of death, fear of being alone, fear of embarrassment. What good things are we not doing because of fear? What blessing are we missing out on because we haven't done something?
He has given us power, love, and a sound mind. Maybe not all those things at once and maybe not all those things in the way which we envision them. I don’t believe power here means power over others but power over our selves. Power to master our weaknesses, our fears, our minds.
Love, true love comes from one source – God. We have the power, and commandment, to show
love for others. Love doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything they say
and do, love means loving them in spite of the choices they make. Love means
being respectful towards them.
Remembering that we are all brothers and sisters. Love means loving
oneself; possibly the hardest kind of love to have for some people. Love means being kind,
being patient, being forgiving, towards others and selves.
I've read this scripture every day for several years (it's at the top of my staircase). I love how you can receive new insights to the scriptures at various times in your life. A good reason to continue to read them. You never know what new gems you're going to receive.
