“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7

What does it look like to live with a spirit of fear and timidity? For me, it looks like the morning I opened my apartment door at 6 am to take my dog outside for a walk, and there was a homeless man sleeping on my doormat, and I didn’t know what to do or say. I was fearful, and so was he. He asked me to not call the police. I didn’t. When I returned, he asked me the time, which I gave him, and then I scurried back inside my warm apartment. I texted m y neighbor to warn her about the homeless man, and then after he packed up his belongings, her delayed response was, “Oh, I wish I’d know earlier so I could do something for him.” I thought about giving him a hot cup of coffee, or even more conversation time, but I was too afraid and timid. I am forgetful. I forget that God gave me a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. I forget that the Kingdom of God is here now and lives within me.

I hear rhetoric daily that this world is a scary place…. this world is falling apart…. this world is full of terrorists. I’m not saying I disagree with those words, but these words are not meant to encourage a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. These words are meant to encourage a spirit of fear and timidity. Fear has no place in the Kingdom of God.

For our world, fear looks like fleeing your homeland in a sinking rowboat, fear looks like detaining ethnic groups at an airport, fear looks like a southern border wall, and fear looks like faith communities ignoring current world events because we don’t want to offend one another.

In the Kingdom of God, a spirit of power looks like rescuing refugees from the sea, love looks like bringing white roses and apologies to detainees at an airport, and self-discipline looks like faith communities praying and fasting for those in and outside of the community who are targeted for their nationality, race, and religion.

My prayer and hope for Singing Oaks Church of Christ and for faith communities across the world is that we don’t give in to a spirit of fear and timidity from the evil one, but nurture a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline given to us by God.

I confess I am not just terrible at loving my neighbors, but I am even worse at loving my enemies…or my perceived enemies. We are all created and loved by God, so I want to be better at loving all people. The following is a borrowed, beautiful prayer of Confession by Thomas Troeger. Please read it, pray it, sit with it, and confess with me. Remember the Kingdom you’ve been baptized into, and remember our God who made you, loves you, and chooses you.

“Creator and Lover of this world, we have not honored your image in all people. We have ignored it in others, counting them of less value because of their race or their class or their culture or their speech. And we have marred your image in ourselves by inflating our own importance or hiding our gifts or dismissing our worth in your eyes. Forgive us, and shape our character to your first intention-that we may faithfully reflect your image in us to all people.”