Sophromismos

There is a study going on at Shadow Hills, admittedly on again off again, but it is a review of the book by Gene Getz called 'The Measure of a Man'. You may surf there and read for yourself by clicking the title of this post. Today I was reading in Getz the call to meekness described as 'not weakness'. Getz uses 2 Timothy 7-8 'For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;' to show how Paul, who constantly and consistently acknowledges God's right and power to rule over him, and that the necessary element of our proper relationship with God is an open heart to our neighbor, encourages Timothy to be confident in his faith. To look forward to the suffering inevitable in the sharing of the Gospel. And, to the point here, to be sophromismos, or of a sound mind, disciplined. I know he says disciplined is the KJV word but I do not find it in my copies of the KJV, but do like it, as it tells us to rely on what we have learned. If we think of the discipline used to teach those going into battle then we can feel confident in believing he is speaking of a knowledge, if not even wisdom, discerned by frequent repetition at practice, the kind of practice(repetition) Navy Seals, professional athletes, consummate musicians, successful archictects use. Discipline builds confidence and character and awareness for the unforeseen. So get out there and practice practice practice, and when it is obvious that God could not possibly have meant for you to do any of it, just make yourself available for Him to do it with you. There is the meekness that overcomes the doubt and causes those about us to say 'what a great (fill in your on blank) so and so is'. Please be sure to give credit where credit is due, for that is an important part of what God's will for us.