Anxious Thoughts?

Written on 04/13/2022
Christian Dunn

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Verse: 2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭

…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.‭‭

Thoughts
What does self control have to do with fear? How does that help with fear? Power makes sense, and Scripture tells us elsewhere that love drives out fear, but self control? How is that related?

The word there is translated slightly differently in other translations - "sound mind." This word carries with it a couple meanings - one of which is self control and one of which is a sound mind. But doesn't that make sense?

Fear often starts in our mind doesn't it? We start to worry about what that person thinks of us, or about that test later this week, or about getting a job, or growing older. Anxiety, worry, and fear—they can so easily start to dominate our thoughts. 

Often we perpetuate our fearful thinking by obsessively circling those thoughts. Have you ever done that? There are times when we just take a thought and think about it until it really starts to dominate not only our thoughts, but our hearts too.

This is where self control comes in. We need to know when to stop circling those anxiety producing thoughts, and instead receive God's spirit of self control. We are not meant for fear, but for love, power, and self control!

Prayer
I pray that you would give me strength to say no to those anxious thoughts, God. Help me to have the courage to stop thinking those obsessive thoughts, and instead receive your grace.