2 Timothy 1:7 - Explained
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Whenever we speak of fear, fear is actually not a good thing. The Bible speaks about fear being bad — we should not be afraid of everything that can take place in life. But there is one type of fear the Bible highlights as a good thing, and that is simply having a fear of God. The Bible says at the end of Ecclesiastes: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Really, a summation of the entire book of Ecclesiastes is about fearing God. And fearing God is a good thing. Having a proper fear and respect of Almighty God is something all of us should have.
We have a fear of God because we realise that even as saved people who are saved eternally, God will judge us in this life when we act up. And we also realise he is going to send unbelievers to hell. So we should have a proper fear of God — realising that the same loving God that we believe in and worship is the same loving God that will also send people to hell for all eternity.
The Bible gives the example of being a child of God. When you think about having kids — I love my kids, I spend time with my kids, I am a friend to my kids, but I also have to punish my kids sometimes. Every child growing up should of course love their parents and enjoy spending time with them and look at them as someone they can have fellowship and fun with — but also realise that if they act up, they will be punished. Kids should have a healthy and proper fear and respect of their father and their mother. And how much more when it comes to God Almighty should we have a proper and healthy fear of him.
Now when I am right with God, I am not worried about God judging me because I realise I have not done anything majorly wrong, though I am not perfect. But I should have a fear of doing something majorly wrong, realising God will punish me. That is a healthy and appropriate fear.
But outside of fearing God, the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear. We should not live our lives just being afraid of every single thing that can take place. And notice what the Bible says at the end of the verse — it talks about a sound mind. People that have a spirit of fear upon their lives do not have a sound mind. They act in ways that do not make sense. It is a direct result of having a spirit of fear. Think of King Saul in the Bible — afraid of everything, not right with God, not acting with any boldness or confidence. That is what a spirit of fear produces.
But when you are filled with the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit will actually give you boldness to do what is right. You can have confidence and you are not afraid of every single possible thing that could go wrong. You are just filled with a spirit of boldness. People that are not filled with the Spirit of God — even if they are saved — can still be filled with the spirit of fear. They are going to be afraid of everything, not have a sound mind, not have boldness, not have confidence. That is not the way God intends us to live our lives.
Pastor Matthew Stucky
