Tremble at God’s awesomeness and power, what He is capable of, and what He has done. And you will find that the more you fear God, the less fear you will have left over for people’s thoughts or opinions of you.
What if you had a patch of ground and a bunch of plants which, no matter what you did, refused to produce a good crop? How much work would you keep putting into it? At what point would you say, “I’ve done enough, and I need to walk away now?”
Not everyone was going to respond well to Timothy's ministry. In fact, things were going to get worse. How was Timothy—and how are we—supposed to press on when we know it won't get any easier?
Psalm 106 shows us what praise is about, and what prayer is about. The psalmist looks back on different times of hardship throughout history, yet in his praise and his prayer he highlights the faithfulness of God during those seasons of drought, and that’s what gives him joy and excitement for what’s ahead.
When Satan slithers his way into your ear to feed you his lies and tempt you to fall into sin, counter him with the truth of God’s Word, like Adam and Eve failed to do, but just like Jesus did.