1 John 4:18: Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
Did you ever take risks because you sought the thrill of doing something exhilarating? When you think of the foolish things you did and how you would “fly by the seat of your pants” without a second thought, doesn’t it make you shake your head and wonder how you made it? Even though many born-again believers used to “live it up” while in the world as sinners, now that God has saved them from their careless ways, when He asks them to obey Him they sometimes refuse because they’re filled with fear.
What has changed in us since we were saved that has caused us to become so afraid that we sometimes disobey God because we fear what people might say or think? Satan had us blind to the pitfalls and the dangers of living in sin, but now we have been enlightened to the dangers of both. There’s another explanation that gives us an even deeper understanding about the fear we face as Christians when stepping out. As carnal (fleshly) humans, we have lived our entire lives trusting in our senses and not in God. However, when we became born- again, God requires us to forsake our senses and trust in Him to lead our steps. Now we’re under His control and must listen diligently to God’s voice and trust that He won’t lead us astray. It’s very challenging to trust in Someone whom we can’t see and in whom we can’t listen to direction—especially when we’ve been conditioned by the hurts of the world to not trust anyone.
This is what the Apostle John is addressing in today’s Scripture. As sinners, we were once owned by the spirit of fear (when we were lost), yet we had no fear of the Lord. Consequently, now that we are Christians, we begin to fear the Lord. We must realize, however, that wrong actions produce harsh consequences. We must overcome the fear of man (people) and learn how to develop a healthy fear of the Lord. Moses tells us in Exodus 20 that the fear of the Lord will keep us from sin. The fear of man, which is really self-preservation or self-protection, can cause us to disobey God and must be defeated through our faith in Jesus.
God has given every person the measure of faith that empowers us to overcome the spirit of fear. We must face our fears through obedience to the Lord’s commands, and as we practice this principle, we are, at the same time, both perfecting love in our hearts and casting the fear out of our hearts. Have you ever heard the old saying, “Can’t, never, could and won’t, never, will.” It’s bad grammar, but it gets the point across. If we allow fear to hold us in bondage so that we never obey the Lord, then love won’t be developed in our hearts. Job tells us in his writings that the thing he GREATLY feared had come upon him. God will allow us to face the very thing that we fear the most and which holds us back to show us that He is still God and Lord over our lives, in spite of what we fear.
The flesh nature or “self” will cause us to react in fear when God commands us to step out in faith, and we will have to decide to either trust Him or draw back in fear and unbelief. If we choose to draw back in unbelief, God has said that His soul will have no pleasure in us.
Another way to look at this dilemma is to see fear as a way of self-protection or preservation. Jesus tells us in the gospel of Matthew that if anyone loves his life, he will lose it, but if we lose our lives for Christ’s sake, then we will find it. God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear, but has—instead—given us His Holy Spirit who gives us power, love, and a sound mind. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” Show fear who’s boss of your life by obeying God in the area that you’re most afraid today. —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US
