You've Been Given More
Remembering Pearl Harbor through the lens of 2 Timothy 1:7
Sometimes you have to get off the bench and get back into the game. I have found myself in this situation recently, where it became mission-critical to return to something for my own physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual health: F3. Like many men, it became far too easy to fall into a pattern of passivity, inaction, laziness, and sloth-likeness this time of year. I knew it, Megan knew it, and close friends knew it as well. It’s November in Knoxville, TN, and that is almost a guarantee of it being cold, rainy, dark, or a combination of all three before or after typical work hours. And yet, for all the “noise” (as we’ll call it), the reasons to show up to an F3 workout far outweighed the reasons I, or others, worked hard to convince me not to.
Coming back to workout with a true band of brothers I had not seen in a long time reinvigorated my soul in ways I didn’t know I needed last Thursday. Having the F3 logo on my chest along with other men around men, and the depth of what this means is something I needed to be reminded of. This is the true spirit of F3 — iron sharpening iron in real time. Life on life.
Taking the lead for a ruck workout this Monday morning — appropriately called Genesis, for where the invigoration of male community leadership through planting, growing, and serving small workout groups for men started over a decade ago at West Hills Park — wasn’t something I just wanted to do, but something I needed to do as well. When the mind, body, and soul are out of whack, the ripple effects are felt in other areas of life and more importantly, by those we love the most. So yeah, it was good to get back out there this morning.
Did it rain a bit? Yep. But you only get wet once.
A handful of character and muscle building rounds consisting of ruck PT and rucking up and around a hill loop took us to around 5:45am, before purposefully doing some core work and cool-down stretches. After taking our rucks off and circling up, with each man sharing their hospital name (the name they came into this world with), their age, and their F3 nickname, I shared some facts and thoughts about the anniversary of Pearl Harbor yesterday, and how this relates to 2 Timothy 1:7. Ultimately - the word for the day was “You’ve been given more than a spirit of fear.” Let’s dive into what I mean by that.
Pearl Harbor: Dec. 7, 1941
2,403 Americans killed
1,178 wounded
19 U.S. Navy ships damaged or sunk, including:
8 battleships
USS Arizona: 1,177 killed alone
188 U.S. aircraft destroyed
Attack lasted ~90 minutes from start to finish
Brought the U.S. into WWII the next day:
President Roosevelt’s “day which will live in infamy” speech on Dec 8
Average age of service members killed on the USS Arizona? About 19–20 years old
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgement.
How the men of Pearl Harbor lived out 2 Timothy 1:7 on December 7th, 1941:
1. Not a spirit of fear
Those sailors and soldiers woke up to chaos—smoke, explosions, fire, and uncertainty. Yet countless men ran toward danger, not away from it. They didn’t have time to process or plan; they acted with courage they didn’t even know they had. That’s the spirit Paul talks about—not ruled by fear, but steady in crisis.
2. A spirit of power
The “power” here isn’t domination—it’s the quiet strength to stand firm when everything is falling apart. Power is deciding to act when fear would feel easier. Many at Pearl Harbor showed that power through service, sacrifice, and stepping up for each other.
3. A spirit of love
Love doesn’t sound like a battlefield trait, but it was everywhere that day. Men shielding others. Crews refusing to leave shipmates behind. Sacrifice is love with boots on. The kind of love Paul writes about shows up strongest when things go dark.
4. A spirit of self-control
Even in chaos, there were leaders and regular men who stayed focused—putting out fires, returning fire, getting the wounded to safety, locking in on what needed to be done. Self-control in crisis is discipline in action.
Even though we did not experience Pearl Harbor the way these men did on December 7, 1941, we go through our own smaller versions of this throughout life.
Things blow up
Attacks happen
The enemy bears down on us
How are we to respond as men who are desirous of pursuing High Impact Manhood?
By remembering that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgement, no matter what arena we find ourselves in. If we can step even a little bit further into this, that’s a win.
So wherever this message finds you — eat the fish leave the bones. Take what you need and leave what you don’t.
No matter where you are though, here is something we can all focus on this week:
Stay the course, keep the faith, fight the good fight, and keep moving forward.
All it takes is all you got.