What are you afraid of? It might not be a question we regularly ask ourselves but maybe that’s the problem. Fear is a very real and present fight for so many of us. Whilst few of us are doing things like bungee jumps daily, fighting fear is an almost daily occurrence for millions of us.
We dress it up, make it socially acceptable, call it ‘embarrassment’, ‘being cautious’ or even ‘worry’ and yet, when we pull of the mask, we’re just plain scared.
As Christians, we are given weapons, through God’s Word, for our fight against fear. They are not ‘the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ They are weapons of the mind and the heart that can help us cut free from fears entanglement.
We find one these weapons in 1 John 4:18 – ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.’ These verses are famous but what do they actually mean? The context is John talking about who God is and the love He has for us.
This is the main question of every human heart, the most important question in the world. Every human being is asking this question, even if they can’t articulate it. So much of our fear comes from this search for love, for approval, for validation; God made us for this love and we will be restless and afraid until we find it from Him.
When we realise that this verse is true; there is no punishment for us because God has given us his Son, that He loves us and is for us, then that love will drive out our fear. We’re no longer subject to the approval or validation of others. We aren’t bound by the ropes of worry or anxiety about the future because we know that our loving God will keep us safe. As we grow in our awareness of love, we find freedom from fear.
