Incredibly, God has given us exactly what we need …

God’s grace, mercy, and love toward us — and all He has done for us — is so pervasive there’s no single scripture in the Bible that captures all of it. That’s why reading and studying the whole Word of God is necessary.

But there’s one wonderfully insightful verse I use a great deal in counseling people. It’s a simple sentence written by the apostle Paul that reveals that God has, indeed, given us exactly what we need, far beyond the trivial things we often pray for. He has given us what is important. This verse doesn’t tell us everything God has given to us, but it reveals three things we desperately need in living out our human experience. The verse is 2 Timothy 1:7, which states:

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

When god transformed us by making us new creatures through a new, spiritual birth, He didn’t supply us with a fearful, timid spirit. Instead, as new creations in Christ, God has given us these three things:

POWER.
No, God has not enabled you to hurl lightning bolts at your enemies. He has not granted you the physical ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound (or even several!). And He hasn’t made you bullet-proof, to either real bullets or to sin. But He has provided a source of power through Christ within you that is able to defeat sin and to enable you to live a spiritually victorious life!

Much of what we think about “power,” and sadly, much of what we have been taught in church about this God-given power, isn’t biblically correct. But it’s vital for living life, and important to understand. It’s also very worthy of taking time to understand from a correct biblical teaching, so let me recommend you check out a terrific book titled, “The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb,” which does a great job of delving into a biblical understanding of this power God has equipped us with (you can find my original review of this book by clicking here).

LOVE.
God is love, so He equips His children with a spirit that reflects His own character …

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love,” 1 John 4:7-8.

Previously, sin destroyed our relationship with God and others and left us spiritually dead. We were powerless over sin and its consequences of death. But as new creations in Christ, not only has God given us a spirit of power over such destruction as sin, but He’s given us a spirit of love with the commands to love Him and to love everyone else. He doesn’t just tell us to love, He enables us to love!

SELF-DISCIPLINE.
When self reigns in a life, indulgence and gluttony are the norm. That’s not the case as disciples of Jesus who are called to love God foremost, to love everyone else second, and think of others more highly than ourselves (Phil. 2:3). Now, God has enabled us to be fully capable of wisely exercising self-discipline in the pursuit of holy living.

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good,” Titus 2:11-14 (NIV).

What do we really need to fully live out our human experience in a way that pleases God and is good for us and others? We need power to overcome sin (provided!), we need a spirit of love to overcome our inherent selfishness (provided!), and we need self-discipline to keep ourselves into wandering back into the sinful morass God has saved us from (provided!).

You see, God really has given us what we need! Does that reality show in how you live your life?

Scotty