How to Live in the Power, Love, and Sound Mind God Gave You

After four decades of working both as a nurse and in the ministry, I’ve discovered that most issues people face have the potential to cause either fear or depression.  Even if you are never clinically diagnosed with anxiety or depression, you will face those emotions at some time in your life. For instance, you may receive a bad diagnosis or suffer the loss of a loved one.

During the hard situations of life, we need to know that we can get on the other side without being fearful or depressed. God’s plan for each of us is to have a sound mind. In fact, a sound mind is our inheritance as a believer!

A sound mind is a peaceful mind. The devil doesn’t want any Christian to live in peace because a sound, peaceful mind is a receiving mind. When you are anxious, worried, or fearful, an invisible barrier blocks you from receiving from God.

Have you ever noticed that when your thoughts are racing, you can’t pay attention to a sermon or to the page you’re reading in a book? If you can’t pay attention, you will not hear with your spiritual ears, faith will not come, and you will not receive your answer.

So how do we combat a state of mind like that? We must remind ourselves that anxiety, fear, and depression are never from God.

2 Timothy 1:7 says,

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

The Amplified Classic translation says it this way:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

According to this passage, fear is a spirit from Satan. This spirit will cause a person to be timid and cowardly. For example, fear will keep people from pursuing their dreams or from going places or doing things.

During COVID, we saw the spirit of fear in full force. Reasonable people began to fear even leaving their homes because they thought they might get COVID and die. If you just logically think about it, the quality of life became so poor that it wasn’t even worth the isolation.

I personally witnessed many people suffer from the isolation. I even lost two distant family members, not from COVID, but from complications that hospitals refused to treat because of fear of COVID. Fear caused people to behave IRRATIONALLY. Fear always does this!

Since fear is from Satan, and we never want anything from Satan, we must resist it immediately.

Let’s continue looking at the rest of that verse and see what God has actually given us.

1. God has given us a spirit of power.

The Greek word for power here is dunamis, which is explosive, supernatural ability, power, and strength. This is where we get our word “dynamite” from. The fact that this word dunamis is used means we have supernatural ability and strength through the Holy Spirit to overcome any fear or depression that comes against us.

Jesus also told us in Luke 10:19,

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Fear is a power of the enemy. We must always remind ourselves that Jesus gave us authority over ALL the power of the enemy, and that includes fear and depression.

2. God has given us a spirit of love.

The word “love” is translated from the Greek word agape, which is an unconditional, sacrificial God kind of love. This kind of love is so powerful that it can NEVER fail, according to 1 Corinthians 13. It’s also important to note that this kind of love casts out fear.

There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection].

1 John 4:18 AMPC

The deeper we understand the love of God, the less we will fear in life. Fear is an enemy of faith. It comes from not being fully assured that God will deliver us.

3. God has given us a sound mind.

A sound mind is calm, well-balanced, disciplined, and self-controlled. A sound mind is a peaceful mind. There’s only one way to obtain a truly sound mind—from the Word of God.

Until we take on God’s thoughts, our thinking will be squirrely. This means that like a squirrel, our minds will run all over the place in various directions and be confused. We may take pride in how educated we are and how much we think we know about life. But the more we meditate in God’s Word and begin to think like God, the more it will reveal how unsound we actually were.

This is what happened in my life. I lived with anxiety for 30 years and thought I was normal. I didn’t even recognize I was an anxious person until I had an unexpected panic attack one night. But I have spent decades renewing my mind to think right and control my thoughts, and I rarely even feel the presence of anxiety anymore. This is what God wants for all of us!

If Satan tries to bring feelings of fear or sadness to you, always resist him by speaking what the Word says. Say, “Fear or depression, I refuse to have you in my life. I resist you, in Jesus’ Name! God has given me the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.” Then begin to worship the Lord because He has given you His peace, and He is your Deliverer. Before very long, those feelings of fear or sadness will completely leave!

(This teaching is an excerpt out of Christine Miller's book, UNTROUBLED: Conquering Anxiety, Fear and Depression. We encourage you to get the book, not only if you struggle with anxiety and depression, but also if you’re desiring healing in your body.) Click here to purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DDse08

If you're in the Aurora/Naperville area and are looking for a church that teaches the uncompromising Word of God, we invite you to visit Abundant Life Family Church. As a Word and Spirit church, we are committed to helping believers grow in faith, experience the power of God, and walk in His promises. Our services are filled with dynamic worship, Bible-based teaching, and an atmosphere where the Holy Spirit moves. Whether you’re searching for a church home or seeking a deeper relationship with God, we welcome you to join us and be part of a thriving community of faith!