“The desire of the slothful killeth him; For his hands refuse to labour. He coveteth greedily all the day long: But the righteous giveth and spareth not. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: How much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? A false witness shall perish: But the man that heareth speaketh constantly. A wicked man hardeneth his face: But as for the upright, he directeth his way. There is no wisdom nor understanding Nor counsel against the LORD. The horse is prepared against the day of battle: But safety is of the LORD.”
Proverbs 21:25-31 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.21.25-31.KJV
Power, Love, and Discipline
One of the miracles of salvation is that when we have faith in Christ, God not only saves us—He also gives us the power to live according to His will. Your life in Christ is one that is empowered by the Holy Spirit living within you.
This is a great gift, but a big shift. It often takes time to change how we think and act. We may have bad habits that take hard work to correct, or patterns of thought that are challenging to break.
Thankfully, God promises to be with us and to empower us to make these changes in our life. When Paul is writing to his mentee Timothy, he encourages him to continue to develop the gift that God has given to him. While we are saved in an instant, it takes a lifetime to develop and work out what God is doing inside of us.
Paul reminds Timothy that God’s Spirit does not give us fear or cowardice. Those things are tools of the devil who is trying to keep us from God. But the Spirit of God empowers us with confidence in Him. He gives us the ...