293. Power, Love, Sound Mind
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
God promised, and God gave, us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. We don’t often realize or make use of what God gave us. When we believed the Holy Spirit made our spirit alive, and that spirit is powerful, loving and wise.
We are more powerful than we think: the power resides within us to overcome the authority of Sin and Satan. One simple word can fell him. We have this power so that we can exercise the authority we have in Jesus’ name. The power of Satan lies in his lies. Truth always wins; truth poofs away the lies of evil quickly and easily. I by myself and in my flesh am weak and powerless against the subtleties of the devil; we always lose. But the spirit in us has power. I am weak but He is strong. When we believe the power of the Spirit we will have no fear.
We have more love in us than we can imagine. In our flesh resides no love except love of self, love curved in on itself, but in our spirit is God’s love; God is love. His love is greater, stronger, higher and deeper than we can comprehend. With God we can do the impossible: love the unlovable, love our enemies, do good to those who persecute us, treat others as we would like to be treated. We have within us the perfect love of God, and perfect love casts out fear. We wouldn’t normally think of love and fear as related to each other; we don’t see them as opposites. We don’t see it, so God must tell us: where God’s love (perfect love) dwells fear cannot live in the same place. By the way, we must remember that this is referring to God’s love, not our love. When we try to love we fail. When we trust God’s love it works. God’s love is the most powerful force in the universe. That love He has given to us.
We also have a sounder mind than we are willing to trust: we have the mind of Christ. He is the wisest mind in the world. He always knows what is good, right, and most beneficial for us. He always knows what to do. We can bring every thought captive to Christ. Pride prevents us from accepting the fact that original sin has made us stupid. Unbelief prevents us from trusting the mind of Christ. Unfortunately, we humans actually think we know better than the Lord God. The sound mind we have been given by God is shaped and modeled by the Word and the Spirit. The Spirit teaches our spirit through the Word of the Gospel. Admit ignorance and turn to God. God said to Job, “Who do you think you are?” [Job 38:2]. Job responds, “I know now that you are God and I am not. I didn’t know what I was talking about. Therefore, I repent in dust and ashes.” [Job 42:2-6]. The mind of God is the sound mind we have been given. The sound mind of the Lord does not fear, for it sees the truth. God promises that mind for us.