Have no Fear (2 Tim 1:7)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind - 2 Tim 1:7

Over 300 times the Bible exhorts us to have no fear.

Wordly fear must be distinguished from Godly fear. The fear of God eliminates all other types of fear. It belongs in a different category altogether.

Fear of anything in this world is not only crippling to ourselves, it is blasphemy against God.

If we are fully surrendered and yielded to the will of God our Father, then there is no reason to fear anything in this world.

To fear anything in this world is to attribute to it in our minds more power than God.

Fear results from a either a distrust of God, or a misunderstanding of His sovereignty.

When we fear an outcome, we are placing more trust in our own forecasts than in God's plan. Paul tells us that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. This means that no matter what happens to us, God is making sure that it will in some way end up as a blessing for us when things are all said and done.

The only way to develop the type of trust in God's goodness, and the type of knowledge of God's sovereignty, that will cast out all fear is through a relationship with Jesus.

Jesus is the key to understanding how God's omnipotence can be reconciled with His goodness. He is the key to eliminating fear from our lives.

Without Jesus, fearing nothing in this world is arrogance.

With Jesus, fearing anything in this world is ignorance.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

    and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant,

    and their faces shall never be ashamed.

Psalm 34:4-5