The Fear of God: The Impacts of Negative Fear
The Fear of God: The Impacts of Negative Fear
Text: Matthew 6:25-34, Isaiah 41:10, Joshua 1:9
Memory Verse: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love”. 1John 4:18
One of the effects of the fall of man is fear; thank God for sending his son Jesus to deliver us from fear and reminding us in his word “fear not for I am with thee”. These simple quotes tell us a little about fear and how we have the power to say no to it.
F-E-A-R has two meanings: “Forget everything and run” or “Face everything and rise”, the choice is yours.
“Fear is born of Satan, and if we think about it we would see that everything Satan says is founded upon a lie”.
“Courage does not mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you do not let fear stop you”.
The negative things fear brings into our lives include:
- Fear makes us feel anxious (scared) about everything; creates problems in our lives and even affects the lives of people around us.
- Fear hinders us from becoming who God wants us to be. When we are afraid, we cannot achieve the goals God has in mind for us.
- Fear can make people have bad and destructive habits. For example fear of the future can make people start taking alcohol and drugs to make them forget their pain and problems.
- Fear steals our peace and contentment. When we are always afraid, our lives become gloomy and we will always think bad things will happen to us.
- Fear creates doubt. God promises us abundant life and a lot of wonderful things, but if we let fear rule our hearts, our prayers will not be answered.
- Fear makes our relationship with God suffer. When we don’t trust God or believe in His word, it makes Him sad and drives us far from Him.
- Fear brings depression. Being afraid makes you think nobody loves or cares for you.
- Fear leads to sin. For example in Genesis 15, Abraham had to lie about his wife because he was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him.
Fear is one of the devil’s tactics to steal from us and make us stop believing in God. We can overcome fear if we:
- Constantly study and meditate on God’s word Joshua 1:8.
- Maintain our relationship with God through prayers Philippians 4:6-7.
- Understand and experience God’s love for us through Jesus Christ Ephesians 3:17-19.
In conclusion, we should not let fear stop us from being what we should be in life. Fear is not of God; therefore we should overcome it 2Timothy 1:7.
Prayer: Thank you God For not giving us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Amen
Author: Sis Chiamaka Ebenezer
