2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.
FEAR…
It is
part of who we are far too regularly and causes far too much damage. We often
allow it to become a part of our lives without even realizing it. When we
finally realize that it has taken over our entire thought process, how we
relate to others, and our perspective of life, we have a difficult time finding
a solution to overcome it. We end up in bondage to it with seemingly no way
out.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
PERFECT
LOVE…
It is
what heals wounds and sets things straight. It is what sets us free from the
bonds of sin. It is something that has, is, and will change the world. When we
accept it as a free gift from our heavenly Father and let it take over how we
think, how we see others, and make it a way of life, we will realize how much
meaning there is to our lives. It is what gives us purpose in life and hope for
the future.
As
Christians, we are instructed to strive to show love and kindness to all we
come in contact with, in order to share Christ’s love. Yet whenever we are met
with the rejection of the world, it can be very discouraging. We may go through
times where we become emotionally and spiritually exhausted, feeling as though
we are being fake or "putting on a face". We are not able to fully comprehend why
anyone would reject something so freeing, wonderful, and ….perfect.
Unfortunately,
fear is extremely powerful. Not as powerful as Christ’s perfect love, but is
what comes naturally to us. Fear is what will keep the world from accepting perfect
love. Fear is also what will discourage us to the point of no longer sharing
it. When we allow the rejection of the world to cause us to fall into the trap
of fear we must look into to the truth of the matter. That is, the fact that God
has not given us as His children a spirit of fear. He has given us perfect love
which destroys fear!
We must
lay our fear, anxiety, and doubts at the feet of Jesus. So that we can claim
the perfect love that is ours. When we do this, then and only then will we be
able to share the perfect love of Christ with the world.
