God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control. (NCV, 2 Timothy 1:7)Galatians 5:22,23 lists the fruit of the Spirit, which includes self-control. [1] The term self-control may be misleading, since it is hardly self that does the controlling. In fact self being in control is a lie. The self is either controlled by the infilling and empowering of the Holy Spirit, or it is controlled by whatever spirit happens to be strongest in us on any given occasion.
In 2 Timothy, Paul writes to his protege, telling Timothy he must never let fear deter him from sharing the gospel. It's easy to make decisions out of fear: fear of what might happen to us if we pursue a certain path, fear of what people around us will think. In these cases we are playing to the wrong audience. It doesn't matter what people think; the only opinion that really counts is God's.
A battle rages for control of self. The spirit of fear opposed the spirit of power, love and self-control and wants to run the show. But self-control means fear doesn't get to tell us what to do anymore. In other contexts, self-control means anger doesn't get to tell us what to do; lust doesn't get to tell us what to do. Those things no longer control self; now the Spirit is in control.
Which spirit will be calling the shots in your life this week?
[1] See Day 340: Galatians 4, 5 and 6
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