So many people struggle every day with unexpressed fears. Even people who we think have everything they need, and who seem to have it all together, have fears that we don’t know about. The Bible says, ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV). Our fears don’t come from God. So where do they come from? There are lots of different sources of fear, such as: 1) Things we picked up from our families as we were growing up. 2) Things that are happening in the world. 3) Negative experiences that we’ve been through. 4) Satan. Recognising the true source of our fears is the first step to overcoming them. And God has given us a powerful weapon to defeat them with: ‘Perfect love casts out fear.’ We might think, ‘Maybe if I loved God more perfectly, I wouldn’t be so afraid.’ But if we think that, we’ve missed the point. We’re imperfect people, so we could never love God perfectly, no matter how hard we tried. There’s only one ‘perfect love’, which is God’s love for us. It’s unconditional, bought and paid for by Jesus Christ when He died for each one of us on the cross. When we realise the undeserved, unearned love, grace, and favour of God towards us, we’re enabled to rise up and begin to ‘cast out’ fear, anxiety, doubt, guilt, condemnation, and worry. God’s love for us isn’t based on our performance, but on Christ’s. When we trust in Christ’s performance instead of our own, we can rest assured that we also have the power to lean on God and let His love ‘cast out’ our fears.

What Now?

Do you know someone who’s fearful of something at the moment? Today, try and have a chat with them and reassure them of God’s unconditional love and care.