Dude!

Hey now, this is cool.

I was just flipping pages in my Bible, something I do every now and then when I dont know where to read, and I spotted something I'd highlighted a long time ago.

1 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

The Message says "bold and loving and sensible."

Three things. Power, that's easy, everyone loves a power trip. A lot of people try to make an impact with the power they hold, their position in the church, their presumed authority. These aren't bad, but when used all by themselves, they dont really make a difference except to make people feel not good enough and smothered.

Love. That one can be easy too. Love everyone, welcome everyone, accept everyone. That's great, but what happens when someone needs correction? Do we just keep accepting everything, hoping we can love them into changing?

Self-discipline. Ooh, the clincher. No one likes discipline. That's a baaaad word.

Or is it?

When we combine all three of these, we get a pretty good balance, dontcha think? God tells us to use the power He gives us, the love He gives us, but to be "sensible" with it!! Ah! Its all so clear now!

Just a thought!! Comments welcome. :-)