The Antidote for Anxiety and Depression: Trust in Abba Father’s Care – Pt 11
You Have a Sound Mind!
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
– 2 Timothy 1:7
There are troubles all around us and sometimes we cannot avoid them. It is expected that once we are in the world we will have tribulations. Jesus made mentioned of this truth in John 16:33, which is cited in yesterday’s devotion. However, no one likes to have tribulations. I know I don’t! Do you?
Sufferings had a way of injecting fear into my heart, affecting my mind, causing me to think irrationally. The enemy captured my mind, filled it with his lies, and I became a slave to fear. Sometime, even in the absence of troubles, the enemy still had a way of being able to lie to me, I held on to those lies and became paranoid. This, often caused anxiety and depression. Many times I felt like I was literally “losing my mind” or going “crazy”, which is the total opposite of having a sound mind.
Timothy in his days was confronted with a scenario in which his mind was tempted to yield to fear. The Early Church was experiencing a grave challenge as Nero was persecuting the believers everywhere in the most outrageous and hostile ways. Timothy, the pastor of the church in Ephesus at that time feared for his life because he knew if he was caught by Nero’s secret police, they would have delighted in killing him in some ferocious way.
Therefore, the more Timothy thought about the danger he was in, a spirit of fear tried to capture him. That is the reason why Paul had to encourage him and remind him in 2 Timothy 1:7 saying, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
The Greek scholar Rick Renner mentions that the phrase “sound mind” is taken from the Greek word sophroneo, which is a compound word combining sodzo and phroneo. The Greek word sodzo means to be saved or delivered. It proposes something that is delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, and protected and is now safe and secure. It is mentioned, one expositor suggests that the word sodzo could actually depict a person who was on the verge of death but then was revived and resuscitated because new life was breathed into him.
The second part of the phrase “sound mind” comes from the Greek word phroneo, which carries the idea of a person’s intelligence, or total frame of thinking – including his rationale, logic, and emotions. The word phroneo refers to every part of the human mind, including all the processes that are engaged in making the mind function and come to conclusions.
When the words sodzo and phroneo are compounded into one word, they form the word sophroneo, which pictures a mind that has been delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, and protected and is now safe and secure. It therefore means friends, that when your minds wants to let fear take a hold of them, like in Timothy’s situation, you can make the choice to let God’s Word and the Holy Spirit work in you to deliver, rescue, revive, and salvage your minds. Therefore, your rationale, logic, and emotions can be protected from, the illogically absurd, ridiculous, unfounded, and crazy thoughts that have tried to control your minds in the past. You just have to take hold of God’s Word and His Spirit.
Friends, in other words, what Paul is saying in Second Timothy 1:7 is this, “God has not given you the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and He has given you a mind that has been delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, protected, and brought into a place of safety and security so that it is no longer affected by illogical, unfounded, and absurd thoughts” (Renner, 2003).
I strongly believe that this word is applicable today and it is so powerful. You have a “sound mind” because God has already given it to you. Therefore, you can speak to your mind when the enemy tries to lie to you and let the enemy know that you are not going to fall for his lies anymore. You can think straight even in times when you are faced with difficulties. You are not losing your mind or going crazy – it is just a feeling, and as real as your feelings may be, they are not always the truth.
Take some time out today to give God thanks for your “sound mind”.
God bless you!
MY PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father You are my peace and I worship You. I give You thanks today for the spirit of power, love and a sound mind. I declare that my mind is delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, protected, and brought into a place of safety and security so that it is no longer affected by illogical, unfounded, and absurd thoughts. I Prayer this by faith in Jesus’ name with thanksgiving. Amen!
