Fear

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. ~2 Timonthy 1:7

I must confess, I fall into fear sometimes, which affects my actions. Typically, my personality isn't one to be timid or to let others take control. But let's say, maybe, just hypothetically, there might be a situation where someone is extremely volatile and could react very aggressively. So out of fear, I pull back, and placate the person, instead of being firm. But why do I do it? It's not like me to give into someone, to not let someone get away with something that's wrong. But, I was scared. So, in this hypothetical situation, I am grateful for others who are strong and stand firm. And I see that nothing actually happens. It was worse for me to not do anything, and the person actually did what was supposed to be done, in an appropriate way. And to think I was fearful of what might happen, so I was going to let the person get away with something, which does not help the person at all.

So, hopefully I will learn, next time, to not be fearful. Maybe the situation won't turn out so great, like it did, hypothetically, today. But I know that it's better to be strong than to be fearful and timid.

So I wonder what other situations and areas in my life I pull back from doing what I know is right, just because I'm scared. What about you?