Fear vs Love

I have learned (both through education and experience) that the root of anxiety is fear. Once I was able to make this connection in my heart, I was able to see how God’s Word addresses this. The most concrete statement about this that I have found in the Bible is I Jn 4:18 – “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” Someone once asked me what the opposite of fear was (or what is the cure for fear). Because God had just shown me this verse, my answer was “love.” It is not courage or peace or wisdom – it is Love. This became my theme verse and I began to ask God to help me to experience His love in a deeper and more real way than I had ever before. I can say today that His love completely overwhelms me. I have tears in my eyes just saying this because I never knew that anyone could love me this much or this deeply. What do I have to fear when His love surrounds and indwells me? Absolutely nothing! I don’t have to fear messing up or failing because God’s love is not based on me – it is based on Him. I don’t have to fear others rejection of me if/when they find out my weaknesses and failures. I can share all of me (including my weaknesses, struggles and failures) freely, knowing that I am secure in God’s love. I can love others more freely because I’m not afraid to risk.

However, as with any truth, I can easily become distracted and deceived by the messages around me that are in contradiction to this. Fear often rears its ugly head and I can quickly become engulfed in fear again until I am able to focus back on the truth of God’s love for me. God has provided me with some great resources that continue to shout His message of love to my heart. The main one this year (in addition to God's Word) has been the book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning. [I have already read it twice and I’m considering reading it again!] This book does an amazing job conveying that God’s love and grace have absolutely nothing to do with my goodness, success or value. My small group has gone through this book together and God provided freedom to my heart as I have shared honestly and openly about the ugliness and struggles in my own heart. It has been freeing, relieving and life-giving to work through the truths in this book. If you are looking for words of grace and truth to soak into your life, I highly recommend this book.

I’m not sure where you are at in your journey, so my words may or may not be helpful at this point. However, I do know that we will never live without fear until we experience God’s love, so I’m guessing that you have already or someday will journey down this path on your road to freedom and peace.