Addressing his disciple Timothy with a letter, Paul reminds him of the gift of God that he received during prayer with the laying on of hands, and that he must now constantly renew within himself. As is clear, during that prayer Timothy experienced a certain kind of spiritual initiation, that renewal of life, inward and outward, which truly makes a person different, new, opening new life and new possibilities to him. But such effects are never one-time events. A person's transformation is a long and gradual process; one encounter with God, one outpouring of God's breath, even a strong and vivid one, almost never ends the matter. Such an outpouring can begin the process of spiritual change, but after that the person will have to work himself, and above all he will have to understand what has happened to him, the new thing that has entered his life, the new possibilities God has opened to him, and the new tasks God has placed before him. This is the work the apostle reminds his disciple about.

At the same time Paul describes the spirit Timothy received, and that he himself had received earlier, as a spirit of "power, love, and self-control," not of fear or timidity ("fearfulness"). At the center here, as is clear, stands love, accompanied by "power" and "self-control." The "power" mentioned by the apostle is that divine energy which has sustained the being of the universe from the very beginning of its existence and which can manifest itself in a special way where God wants to mark His presence in a special way. Thanks to it, God's miracles do not remain purely spiritual phenomena, receiving the possibility of affecting also the natural processes taking place in the world. By "self-control" (or more precisely, by the corresponding Greek word), Paul means not simply "innocence" in the sexual sense in which it is understood today, but the inner wholeness of a person at all his levels: wholeness of will, wholeness of inner life, and finally wholeness of outward life too, without which a person is not complete.

Such wholeness makes a person a bearer of God's power, which otherwise will not manifest itself in him. But at the center stands not power and not wholeness; at the center is the love with which the Kingdom is permeated and which there, in the Kingdom, is the medium for all relationships existing in it, including the chief ones - the relationship between the Father and the Son, through which the Kingdom exists. It is within and in the context of the Father's relationship with the Son, within the Kingdom, that both wholeness and any manifestations of God's power are possible. But God's breath, the breath of the Kingdom, can exist in a person only in the process of constant renewal: breath cannot be stopped; it exists only in motion. These are the foundational things for Christian life that the apostle reminds his disciple about.

Paul writes this letter at a time when his situation was not very enviable. His apostleship brought him not only joy and the ability to work miracles, but also much suffering. That is why these words about fear are so important here. "For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." In order to preach, one must be truly fearless and not be ashamed to testify to what Jesus commanded, even when it runs counter to the principles on which the pagan world was founded. Paul encourages Timothy by telling him that God gives him this fearlessness, that it is a special gift received by the faithful.

Each of us is called to be an apostle, to bring the light of the Gospel into the world through our life. At times this requires real courage, which only the Savior Himself can give. Even if you are not threatened with mortal danger, living in our world according to the Beatitudes requires an almost knightly bravery.

Today the Lord addresses to us one of the most important questions: "How do we listen?" We regularly read the Bible, and even visit Bible sites on the Internet, but do we have ears to receive the Word, let it take root in our heart, and bear fruit?

The Lord says: "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and more will be added to you who hear." In essence this means: what a person wants to find in Scripture, and in God's revelation in general, is what he will find. The Bible can provide us with the richest material for history, literature, philology, mysticism, and so on, but only the one who seeks in it the knowledge of God, that is, living personal relations with Him built on trust and love, will be able to find God in reading Holy Scripture.

And here the words that "to the one who has, more will be given" acquire their meaning. In listening to and understanding the Word of God, we can only deepen and multiply what we already have; that is, we must approach it from within an already existing bond with God, in faith and prayer.