Photo by Muzammil Soorma on Unsplash
“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”
This is from Saint Paul’s letter to Timothy. It was said that Saint Timothy was a little shy and timid. His mother and grandmother are mentioned in the letter, respected members of faith in the Jewish community.
With this context, we might understand why Saint Paul encouraged Saint Timothy to be courageous. And because we know of the martyrdom of Saint Timothy, we know he took Saint Paul’s advice to heart.
The gospel of Jesus was not composed to make us feel better. It was meant to be bold, and its words should cause us discomfort. If it does not, why is it Saint Paul admonishes us to have courage? If the words of the gospel do not cause us to risk being disagreed with, then have we really heard the gospel?
The challenges of the gospel are bold. The way of life demanded of us if we are to follow Jesus are not easy. And becoming a follower of Jesus requires that we are “all in”, that is, that we dedicate our lives in imitation of his.
Now, to be sure, we do not go looking for trouble. We do not go looking to create arguments and fights. But we do ask Jesus to send his Holy Spirit to us so that we can speak boldly in his name.
For we believe following Jesus changes lives for the better. We believe the gospel way of life leads to an eternal life. And we believe that we must tell others about this life-giving relationship.
Let us pray.
Dear Jesus, the way of life you call us to requires us to be bold and courageous. Knowing this, your Holy Spirit sends us courage as a gift. Help us to accept this gift and to use it boldly in your name. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Music: Cheezy Piano Medley by Alexander Nakarada
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4833-cheezy-piano-medley
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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