Love Drives Out Fear

So if fear is such a negative thing and so detrimental to our faithfulness and fruitfulness in Christ how do we get past it? Faith is the antithesis to fear but love is the antidote. The Bible teaches that “perfect love drives out fear”. This makes perfect sense. Faith requires living by taking risks based upon God’s voice and God’s promises. Fear is simply the state we live in when we really don’t believe the voice or the promises. Love is the answer. If we know that we know that we know God loves us, then we know He won’t let us down when we step out in faith. If we know He loves us we’ll pursue and have a level of intimacy with Him to know His voice so we won’t doubt when we hear Him or even be afraid of hearing wrongly. After all if we make a mistake trying to listen to Him and do His will, if He loves us He’ll put us back on the right track. We will believe His promises, act upon them, see His faithfulness and rejoice in His goodness. The answer for the overwhelming and paralyzing fear that grips a control bound Western Christianity is nothing other than the love of God. We are like little children on the edge of the pool wanting to jump in for the first time. Daddy is in the water with His arms extended and promising to catch us. How do we know He’ll catch us? He has a track record of love and faithfulness, but the only way to be sure is to jump. How do we get past the fear into the arms of a good and loving God, trust His love and take the plunge. Give the money you are prompted to give, start the class you have been nudged to start, reach out to the neighbor or co-worker God has placed on your heart. Base your next decision not upon the fear based prognosis of the current economy but on the voice of God revealed in your heart and in the scriptures. We can live lives of adventure and freedom outside of fear and in the arms of love. Jump.