WORSHIP WEDNESDAY: EXPLAINING MY LIFE VERSE

Some Christians have this thing called a "life verse." This is a verse that speaks to the person specifically for very personal reasons. Sometimes, this verse can change. However, I've had the same life verse for several years now.

​I wanted to share my life verse for today's Worship Wednesday, and explain why it means so much to me.

MY LIFE VERSE:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." - II Timothy 1:7

WHY THIS VERSE MEANS SO MUCH TO ME

This verse is actually the verse that I have in my email signature and a card with a version of the verse is taped to my computer. I've gotten a ton of responses about the verse, with many people loving it. One of my coworkers actually asked me what it meant to me and why I love it so much. 

The truth is that the verse has spoken to me for a long time because of things that I've dealt with in my past. Let me go through it:

A SPIRIT OF FEAR

When I was young, I was always pretty scared about the what-ifs of life. My mom will be the first to tell you that I didn't want to ride a bike because I was afraid to fall or I didn't want to leave the window rolled down because a bee might sting me.

I'm still largely like that, in a way. I feel that I am getting better with age and experience. However, I still often find myself being worried about how I am perceived, scared to speak up sometimes about the things that I care about, and scared that something might be medically wrong with me when I'm doing just fine.

I found out in college that this was due to General Anxiety Disorder. I was diagnosed by my college counselor, but I didn't do anything about it. The most I did was become more vocal with a few trusted individuals about my feelings. No meds, and no other counseling sessions.

A doctor recently prescribed me something for my anxiety because part of it leads to me "picking my skin." ​But people with anxiety disorder are not the only people who have fear. 

You can be anxious and scared about something without having a disorder. Most people get anxious or scared about a lot of things, and it's normal.

But it is something that has to be dealt with somehow, and hopefully in a healthy way. 

"FEAR OF THE LORD"

Many people will wonder how "God didn't give us a spirit of fear" when there are verses that say "fear the Lord" elsewhere in the Bible. According to a dictionary search, an archaic use of the word "fear" means "reverence." 

If you do some more searching, you will find that "fear the Lord" is used much more in the Old Testament than in the new.

 I just wanted to clear that up quickly and also point out that this shows the passing of time and changes in language use in Biblical text.

WHAT GOD GIVES US: POWER

The word "power" can sometimes have negative connotations because of the abuse of power that many of us have witnessed through local and government officials. However, God's definition of power can be equated more with the word strength. In Ephesians 6:10, it says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

I'll leave a link to verses on power here so you can check them all out for yourself. But, if you look at these verses, you'll see that God is exhalted as an other-worldly being that has much more power and strength than us humans. He created us, after all. 

There is this beautiful image of all of us gaining the power of God when we accept Jesus as our savior. I most definitely believe that I feel more powerful over my anxieties than I used to. They don't control me as much. THEY ARE STILL THERE and I still struggle at times. This is normal and you shouldn't let any church official or person question your beliefs because you're not 100 percent after accepting the Lord. The Bible doesn't say being a Christian will solve all of your problems!

WHAT GOD GIVES US: LOVE

In the KJV Bible, which is the one I use and was raised on, many verses that use "Love" in other translations actually use "Charity" in the KJV. This is because charity is the idea of giving something of yourself out of love and without expecting anything in return.

Everyone's favorite verses about love can be found in I Corinthians 13.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - I Corinthians 13:4-7

These verses are precious and often quoted at weddings because the goal is to tell the couple that they should fight as hard as they can for their marriage because love is much more than a feeling. It is a way of life.

Some definitions are in order here. First, the definition of "sound." This use of the word is meant to mean sturdy or unshakeable. While it doesn't seem that there are many verses on "sound minds," there are plenty of examples of crazy people in the Bible.

The one I think about is the man who identifies himself as "Legion" in the New Testament gospels.

"And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones." - Mark 5:2-5

This man was obviously in mental pain. He resorted to hurting himself, likely because he had been regelated to an island to live among the dead. It is made clear by Jesus' casting out of the unclean spirits in the man that this wasn't something given to the man by God.

WRAP UP

I feel a lot like those crazy people many times in my life thanks to my General Anxiety Disorder. However, I get comfort in reminding myself that my feelings aren't from God, but from the enemy. If the enemy is coming at you, you must be doing something right.