Sinful Fear of God
A. Maclaren, D. D. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. One of our poets gives a grim picture of a traveller on a lonesome road, who has caught a glimpse of a frightful shape close behind him — "And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head."The dreadful thing is there on his very heels, its breath hot on his check; he feels it though he does not see, but he dare not face round to it; he puts a strong compulsion on himself, and, with rigidly fixed face, strides on his way, a sickening horror busy with his heart. An awful image that, but a true one with regard to what many men do with their thoughts of God! They know that that thought is there, close behind them. They feel sometimes as if its hand were just coming out to be laid on their shoulders, and to stop them. And they will not turn their heads to see the Face that should be the love, the blessedness, the life of their spirits, but is — because they love it not — the terror and freezing dread of their souls. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. WEB: For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.