“For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love and of self-discipline.” NLT
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” KJV
“For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” HCSV
                         2 Timothy 1:7
When my children were young they struggled with fears as all children do. When these episodes would occur I often quoted this verse to them and had them memorize it. Many a nightmare were stopped and ended in a good night’s sleep with the comfort of this scripture. As they grew older I saw the dangers of allowing them to stay fearful and timid. Timidity stopped them from enjoying all that God had for them. Living with the confidence that God has given them power, love, a sound mind and the ability to be self-disciplined is the message I wanted them to lay hold of.
As I looked up the dictionary meaning of timidity I was fixated on studying the list of Synonyms and Antonyms of the word. The Synonyms (words that mean the same as timidity) are: fainthearted, fearful, fearsome, mousy, scary, skittish, shy, timorous, and tremulous. Who wants to be all that??? No wonder God said He did NOT give us the spirit of all those pathetic characteristics. No one grows up saying “I want to be the mousy, skittish kind of person that is afraid of everything.” No one wants that and God doesn’t want that for us either. So how do we break free of this timidity and gain Godly confidence? If I lived a life of Godly Confidence in His spirit, what would it look like?
The Antonyms (words that mean the opposite of timidity) will help us better understand the spirit that God is offering to us. Here they are: adventuresome, adventurous, audacious, bold, daring, dashing, gutsy, hardy, venturesome, and venturous. Now these are words that I want to be used to describe me, my children, and my children’s children, should the Lord tarry! As believers you have the spirit of God living inside of you! Today, access the spirit of God and walk in the Godly Confidence you’ve been given!
PRAYER
Father…I thank-you for the truth of your word! I thank-you that it is true no matter if I feel it or not. Help me to live free of fear and timidity. Help me to access your spirit for power and love so that I may use self-discipline to walk in sound-mind, using sound-judgment! May I walk in Godly Confidence! In Jesus Name…Amen!
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/timid