“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:7, NIV
“It’s not fair,” she declared as she climbed into the warm car, beside me, flicking her hair from her face. The movement adding weight to her words and revealing a stormy expression set deep in her brown eyes.
She continued her tirade, explaining an assignment where all the students must judge who was responsible for WWII. They were given several categories ranging from politicians, country governments, and even God. Each one needed an assigned percentage of fault, and none could be zero.
“How do you want to handle this,” I asked after a moment of stone-cold silence.
II Timothy is clear. God has not given us a spirit of timidity. Even when someone in authority demands otherwise, be it a professor, a boss, or a friend.
Our first priority is obedience to God. How we handle those hair-raising situations declares how seriously we take our faith.
In this instance, there were several ways to practice obedience to God:
1) Be Respectful: We are called to love our neighbors in Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39. It is important to love and show respect to everyone, independent of beliefs, positions, education, or social status.
2) Be Truthful: As Christians, we are called to honesty, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16 We are also called to speak the truth and not allow silence to garner assumptions. John 8:32
3) Be Prayerful: Living in this world but not of it can feel very complicated. We can, we must, carry it all to Christ in prayer. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 He promises to turn those twisty turns into straight paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
So, how did that assignment turn out? She did plenty of research and assigned what she considered appropriate percentages of blame. She gave God’s category a zero. She also included a detailed explanation of why she believed God’s grade to be correct. She knew the assignment instructions. She knew if she did not follow them down to the final detail her grade was in jeopardy. She also knew she would one day answer to her heavenly Father.
Her graded paper was returned to her.
She received an “A.”
But even if she hadn’t, she was prepared to sacrifice her GPA for demonstrating the truth.
We are called to be bold in telling the truth. We are also called to be respectful, truthful and prayerful in communicating our beliefs. When we speak, we need our words to draw others to Christ, not push them away from Him. We need a balance of being bold yet sensitive, truthful and tactful. We need to ask Him for guidance, to show us how to say what. We need to remember to act and speak in love and to verbalize with self-control.
A hard list, right! It’s easier when we pray about it, asking for help. Recall the verse- He did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline. We need to hold onto both that verse and Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
It’s hard to learn surrender, but when we begin, we learn we can be beautifully bold and respectful.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Things can make me oh, so mad sometimes. Yet, I trust You. You have me here for a reason. Please help me employ Your Spirit, learning to set aside my timidity, utilizing Your power to love, and practice self-control. In Jesus’ name, Amen.