Top 7 Bible Verses About Timidity

Here are seven Bible verses referring to timidity in the Bible.

Second Timothy 1:6-7 “ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

I believe the Apostle Paul was trying to encourage and exhort Timothy to be bolder in his leadership of the local church. Paul reminded Timothy that he was ordained by God and gifted for this position so “fan the flame,” indicating that it takes concerted effort. God didn’t give him or any of us a spirit of fear but one of love and self-control. There is no reason to be timid knowing these things.

Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”

Paul was also trying to encourage the church at Ephesus by telling them that their strength was in the Lord and their might was His might, therefore they could be strong. There is strength in knowing that we’re weak without God. We can’t do anything of significance without Him (John 15:4), but in Him, we can be strong because we know He’s with us and in us.

First Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Paul wants the Christians at Thessalonica to lift up and encourage the faint of heart. Perhaps it was due to the severe persecution that they were going through, but more than that, the weak should be encouraged too. We should show the weak patience but so also should we be slow to anger with everyone. To admonish the unruly is Paul’s way of saying, warn those who are not being submissive to their church leaders or those who God is not able to rule in their lives and thus, are unruly.

Numbers 12:3 “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”

When God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, Moses didn’t think he was up to the task to help deliver Israel out of their severe bondage, but in this verse, we see that Moses was counted as the meekest man on earth. No one would ever accuse Moses of being weak. Meekness or timidity doesn’t mean someone is weak. The late wrestler and part-time actor, Andre the Giant, was a mountain of a man but he was very timid on the movie set, so obviously, timidity or meekness doesn’t mean weakness.

Exodus 6:12 “But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?”

Moses didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself. He told God that he was unskilled in his speech, having earlier said “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Ex 3:11) but the Creator told him later, when self-doubt filled his mind again, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD” (Ex 4:11)?

First Samuel 18:18 “But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?”

This statement by David was full of humility and comes just after King Saul had promised David his daughter’s hand in marriage, who was Merab and David humbly, says “Who am I” and “what is my life or my father’s family in Israel that I should the king’s son-in-law?” You can see the humility in David’s words as he doesn’t feel worthy to be a king’s son-in-law but Saul wasn’t just being nice but scheming to get rid of David as Saul was thinking, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him” (1st Sam 18:17).

Second Corinthians 10:1 “Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ–I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! “

Here is the Apostle Paul telling the Corinthians, who were often puffed up about their gifts and knowledge that he was meek and gentle of spirit but will be bolder when he is with them. He had many problems with the Corinthians, not the least of which was pride and arrogance, some even taking others to court over matters that should have been settled in the church (1st Cor 6:1).

Romans 8:15 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

We who have been born again have no more to fear from God’s wrath having believed in the Son of God and having the wrath lifted from off of us on account of Christ, therefore, we don’t have to be a slave of fear anymore because God has placed us into His own family. We have been adopted (Eph 1) and now we have access to the Father and can “cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” This is a very personal title of God as being our benevolent Father.

Conclusion

We know that meekness is not weakness and that God wants us to come to Him, unafraid, and pray to Him as our Father in heaven. We might be timid around other people but don’t let that timidity keep you from sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that includes the necessity to repent and believe on the Son of God. If not, Jesus warns all who reject Him, “whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36b).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.