Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
I love post-it notes. I love all the fun colors and different sizes and how they help me organize my life. While I use post-it notes to remind me of my to-do list, record groceries we’ve run out of or make lists of the things I need my kids to do, I also love to write sayings or verses that strike me that I need to remember. I write them and hang them on my mirror or my door – places I will be sure to see them every day. As I read through today’s readings, I needed my post-it notes.
In the first reading I found myself drawn to the lines, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”
Fear can be so powerful. Fear can stop us from making progress. It can hold us back from new opportunities. It can keep us closed off from people different than ourselves. Fear can stop us from loving when it’s hard, from showing up in difficult moments and from speaking up for the truth. But in this letter to Timothy we are clearly told that God does not give us this fear, this spirit of cowardice. We are not called to be cowards. Rather God empowers us to act out of love and self-control. This is something I need to remember every morning.
Seeing these words will help me to remember that living as God desires will not be easy. We are called to act out of love and self-control. And this is not a feel-good, swooning love. This is a deep, messy, difficult love – a love that puts the good of the other before ourselves. This is a love that sets boundaries, challenges people when necessary and holds people accountable. We can all recall the litany of what love looks like from Corinthians – “patient, kind, un-boasting, humble, etc.” This love is hard, but we are told that this is the spirit we are to live in – a spirit of love and self-control.
Whether you like to use post-its, write things with a dry erase marker, paint your favorite sayings, share important verses with a friend or make them the background on your phone, take time to commit these words to memory today. Let us remember that “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.” Amen.
—AJ Grimm