Holy Spirit = Spirit of Courage
I believe Scripture leans more toward courage being a who instead of a what.
In 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT), the Apostle Paul told Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
If God has not given us a spirit of fear, then what spirit has He given us? I believe Paul is saying God has given us the Holy Spirit. He has given us a spirit of courage.To encounter God is to encounter love. The Bible says God is love and that love is the evidence of having been with God (1 John 4:7–21).
The same is true of courage. God is courageous, and courage is evidence of having been with God (2 Timothy 1:7). We are instructed to take courage over and over in Scripture. Courage isn’t a once and for all provision from God. We have to continuously take more courage just like we have to continuously yield to the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16–25).
In Joshua 1:9, God told Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go,” (NIV).
I love how Pastor John Piper, an American Reformed Baptist Pastor, asks and answers this question: “Can I as a twenty-first century Christian Gentile, not a Jewish person, and not living when it was written — not being Joshua —…
