Canadian contemporary Christian artist Matt Maher is saying that people should not be afraid of anything because of the simple fact that Jesus Christ lives.
As part of the "Because He Lives" devotionals, Maher said that it is a very human tendency for people to not want to face the future and to postpone certain inevitable things such as change, a new season, or even death.
"We are sometimes so afraid of the uncertainties of life that we'll even go as far as to postpone our own growth," Maher wrote on his Facebook page.
He then shared the Bible verse 1 John 4:18, which Maher considers as the antithesis of fear. It says: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love."
Maher further explained that people who try to hold on to the past will only become more anxious about the future, and that is where all the fear comes from.
"Sometimes we live too much in the past and it makes us fearful about moving forward," he said. The same can be said for people who try to live too much in the future, he said. Since predicting the future is impossible, it makes people fearful.
Maher said that fear only happens whenever people lose sight of God, because if people live in the present and live through Christ, then there is no more reason for fear.
"To live in the present moment, in the presence of the risen Christ, is the reason every fear is gone. It's saying, 'What I currently have in the present is so precious to me and is so freeing, because in the presence of Christ, Who is love, perfect love casts out fear,'" said Maher.
