Variety: 2 Timothy 1v5-7
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you…. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:5–7
Rev. Yvette Flunder encourages us to use our own gifts in the service of others:
Paul is talking to Timothy about the gift of God placed in Timothy by God. Apparently some thing or some string of things has caused Timothy’s gift to die down. It is there, but barely distinguishable. Paul is encouraging the young Tim to stir it up.
The metaphor literally means to kindle anew the flames of fire … to shake the ashes off the God-given fire that is already in you so a new blaze of fire can be clearly seen….
Stir it up: You cannot stand off from a fire that has died down and command it to flame up. You must get involved with it. Move it around, see what is there, and assess what is needed…. Knock the ashes off to reveal the hot spots. Challenge yourself. Search around internally and externally for your gifts. Tune up your ear to listen for the voice of God…. Tune out those voices and choices that stand in opposition to the voice and will of God for you. Find your creativity again … dream again … vision again. Don’t let traditional things be a barrier to stirring up the gift of God in you—things like age, time, physical disability, and lack of resources. Your destiny is in those coals. They are still burning, passion is still there; you just need to shake off the ashes and stir it up….
Power, courage, and strength alone can be devastating, selfish, and destructive. Love, sensitivity, and charity can be sentimental, codependent, and misdirected. A sound mind, good sense, and self-discipline can be self righteous, academic, and analytical. But together these qualities temper each other and are the foundation for our gifts to come forth and enable us to do great exploits for God!
Stir up those gifts, reach out again for your destiny without fear and with full assurance of faith, knowing that God’s Spirit will grant the power, love, and self-discipline to accomplish it.