⁷For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord …

Witnessing to our faith is the natural inclination of the soul transformed by the grace of God. That doesn’t mean it is an easy thing to do. Paul’s admonition here to Timothy has become standard fodder in discipleship training, often one of the first verses a new believer is encouraged to memorize. But notice, Paul joins with Timothy by using the mutually inclusive word “us.” We take this to suggest that the apostle needed to remind himself, to encourage himself to overcome the hindrances to being a testimony of our Lord.

If anyone knew of opposition to the gospel, it was Paul, on both sides of the conversion line. He knew the mind of those who fanatically persecuted believers, for he himself was one of the fiercest persecutors. And he knew the results of being a faithful testimony, as he outlines in many places (see, for example, 2 Cor. 11:23–28).

Fearing the negative consequences is not a sin or a failure; it is something we all experience. But letting fear stop us from witnessing is “timidity,” or to put it more incisively, cowardice. That does not come from God. He gives us power, that is, strength to overcome fear. That is the truth; do we believe it? We can only live the victorious Christian life by believing God’s Word. Paul, ever the discipler, is simply sharing how he finds the strength to face persecution: by believing that God has given us the power to overcome our fear.

Another hindrance to sharing our faith is callousness that comes from our anger, dislike, or even hatred of the people who are persecuting us. God has given us a spirit of love, and we must fan that love into flames, as we must do for all of God’s gifts to us. Of course, this is “agape” love, that attitude of the heart and choice of the mind to care for the well-being of those who persecute us. It should be our inner desire for them to find and experience the grace of God that we have discovered, and to act in ways that show that we really do believe God has given us that kind of love. Think about how loving God has been to forgive us for our offenses against Himself. This same spirit He has given to us, especially needed in times of persecution.

Finally, laziness hinders our testimony because sidestepping difficulties always seems easier. But God has given us a spirit of “discipline.” This can be translated “sound mind,” the idea being good judgment. Discipline begins in the mind. The sound thing to do is believe God has enabled us with power and love to share our faith. Let nothing stop us from sharing our faith with others.

Lord, thank You for giving me power, love, and discipline. I am not ashamed.