2 Timothy 1:7

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God has not given us a spirit of discouragement, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

In 1 Peter 5:8 we read that the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The devil uses all kinds of tricks to recapture his prey—if at all possible. Discouragement is one of the means he uses to his great advantage. He seeks to cast doubt and suspicion into our life in every possible way, and he arranges everything in such a way that we become tired. He paints God’s way as dark and discouraging as possible, but he presents his own way as light and glorious, so that even Demas went astray. But God be praised who has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us to the whole truth. We learn to separate the noble from the ignoble. The Spirit that God has given us is not the spirit of discouragement, but the Spirit of power. This is the same Spirit that Jesus had and in which He always lived a victorious and triumphant life. This Spirit has already overcome the world, therefore we can count it all joy when we fall into various temptations. Jas. 1:2.

God has given us the Spirit of love. This love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 1 Cor. 13:7. In this Spirit we can love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves. Matt. 22:37-39.

He has given us the Spirit of a sound mind. There is therefore no one who can be as calm and collected in the various circumstances of life as the one who is willing to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. Everything that the Holy Spirit brings forth—also in the church—is brought forth with power, love, and a sound mind. Its effect is always blessed and edifying; however, if people produce something of their own, it has the opposite effect.