Love Over Fear - We Were Made for This

Written by: Alexandria Brown

Every single one of us has reached some point in our lives when we were fearful. Whether it was something new or old, we have all been there. Living in a fallen world, none of us are able to escape the reality of fear alone. But let me tell you a truth...

God does not expect any of us to live in fear! In fact, He commands us not to live in fear at all!
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Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So if God commands us to live without fear then there must be a way to do that...

After all God is not waiting for us to fail, He is waiting for us to succeed. So how do we do that?

Well in my experience, the devil attacks areas of strength in our lives.

And the best way to mask something is by hiding it with the complete opposite. The exact counter-part. Camouflaging our strengths as weakness.

I think about the movies where the mom has a bag of deliciousness hidden inside an empty bag of broccoli. Broccoli is also known as the opposite of deliciousness! LOL!

How many times has the enemy used that bag of broccoli (fear) to hide our deliciousness (that power, love and self-discipline)?

God tells us, “Do not be afraid,” over and over again. He doesn’t tell us that we are supposed to just deal with it. No, on the contrary, He says that He has given us power and love and self-control and peace, His gift of peace. The kind of peace that doesn’t make sense. The devil has just stuck all of those gifts from God in a broccoli bag!

So I hope we can agree at this point that the spirit of fear is not of God... but like we said earlier that is still something that every one of us deals with. So if God tells us not to fear and that God is a loving God who is not waiting for us to fail, but rather He is waiting for us to succeed, then how? What are some practical steps to get rid of fear?

How do we get to that strong and courageous part…when our spirits are at peace and we trust Him better, more fully?

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, (Throw/cast out with force)

I think so many times we are so worried about getting rid of the bad we forget to fill ourselves up with the good first! We throw the nasty broccoli out without recognizing the deliciousness we have access too!

I don’t think we need to get rid of fear for us to live fearless lives. I believe that we need to fill ourselves with love and let love do the work of throwing fear out of our lives with force.

When we quit focusing on the fear and bring our focus on the perfect Love of God, the courage, strength, peace, and power that we already have becomes fruitful in our lives. In Romans 8:38-39 God’s love, perfect love, is the biggest baddest weapon we have at our disposal, let’s use it!

So when we go through those tough moments when we feel fear creeping in, it is then we need to remind ourselves to draw near, call on and stand in the Perfect Love of a Perfect Father.