"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."
1 John 4:18
Fear is today's most crippling disease. It disables not only bodies, but souls and spirits as well. And almost everyone knows what it's like to be sick with fear.
It's not a sin to experience fear, but fear can be a strong foothold for the enemy to use against us. We succumb to the enemy by letting it enter into our lives and letting our fear overcome the effect of the love and lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives.
When we fear financial lack, we become vulnerable to the love of money and selfishness. When we fear the future, we are led to be anxious and act out in impatience and self-preservation. When we fear rejection, we can easily try to find ways to reject and hurt others before they can reject and hurt us.
The enemy has all intentions to let your life be driven by fear. Though Satan cannot instill fear in your heart, He can whisper lies that lead to greater fear. That's why we need the truth of God's love and power. The deceiver will try to lead you to think that God cannot save you, protect you, provide for you and comfort you, but God's Spirit empowers us and enlightens us to see the truth.
James 1:17 tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Our Heavenly Father illuminates our lives with the truth of His Word and love for us, as displayed by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
If God had the intention for you to live in fear, insecurity and anxiety, He would not have taken your sins to the cross. But the fact of the matter is, He did, and that becomes an assurance to us of His unending love.
If Jesus can take to the cross your sin, shame and curse, He can take to the cross -- and he already has -- your fears and anxieties as well. There is now no condemnation, and thus, no fear in Christ Jesus because He loves us and desires what is good for us.
We may not always find assurance in our circumstance because we live in a world with present darkness, but we can always find assurance in the person and character of Jesus Christ, who stands as a banner of assured victory in Him.
