We all have the ability to stir. We can stir the pot, stir up heated arguments & stir up each other in both positive & negative ways.
The Bible is specific on what to stir. I’ve had to do some checking lately on what I’m stirring up w/ my actions & words.
2 Tim 1:6 says to “stir up the gift of god” (or at times it’s translated “Fan the flame”). Paul is telling Timothy to enact the gifts that God had given him. He’s reminding lil Tim that God has given him a spirit of power, love and a sound mind.
So the question for myself was “What you stirrin’ up”? If I’m honest, it’s a lot easier to stir up almost ANYTHING else in myself than stirring up the gift of God. And anything that I’m stirring that doesn’t smell like power, love and a sound mind just ain’t worth cooking.
As far as stirring goes; social media is like a big-dipper-ladle constantly swirling in our heads & hearts as we search for short lived bursts of affirmation. With already made up minds, we look for the dopamine kick of finding others that believe just like we do.
And then we start stirring, by dropping a few comments on someone’s post. Or we screenshot something and send it to an ally just to affirm ourselves of how ‘crazy’ so-and-so is. Usually the pot includes insecurity, people-pleasing, anger and general cattiness.
But the call of the Christian is to stir up the gift of God. And in this example - Paul’s telling Timothy to stir it up in HIMSELF. The admonition is to make sure that the gifts that come from God are being activated in Timothy’s heart and mind.
The hard part is that we love stirring the bad stuff. If we’re honest, we enjoy jabbing others and showing off a low-key contempt for them or their values. Problem is, it’s a dead end process and doesn’t lead towards any good change or positive transformation.
For me, it called for self-evaluation of how I was spending my time & evaluating my actions & conversations. If social media is stirring up all the wrong things - then it’s time to reevaluate. If certain relationships aren’t stirring up the things of God - then it’s time to edit.
The encouragement for today: you’re gonna stir something…make it the gifts and goodness God has placed in you. The other stirring doesn’t lead to power, love and a clear head…so just skip it.
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