Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxietyናሙና

Day 6: He loved us first

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

When you think about fear, you might suppose that the opposite of fear is confidence or peace. You might think that what you need is better self-esteem. But the Bible says something quite different—it teaches that what we need isn’t more self-love but rather more love for others. That’s because the opposite of fear isn’t confidence or peace; the opposite of fear is love. The only way for us to overcome our fears is to learn to love more than we fear. And that’s because the only power strong enough to eliminate fear is love: love for God and others.

Let’s look closely at John’s advice about overcoming fear and try to see how it works to slay this mighty dragon. Let’s consider the whole passage as paraphrased in The Living Bible:

“We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him. And as we live with Christ, our love grows more perfect and complete; so we will not be ashamed and embarrassed at the day of judgment, but can face him with confidence and joy, because he loves us and we love him too. We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us. So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first. “—1 John 4:16-19 (The Living Bible)

The kind of love John refers to here isn’t merely the love that’s common to most people. This powerful love comes from only one source: God. Although all good gifts come from God by His common grace (including the love that unbelievers have for one another), the kind of love John is talking about here is a love that is experienced only in a personal relationship with God. It’s as we’re drawn to Him, and we enter into fellowship with Him that we experience the powerful fear-defeating love that is His alone. We can see the differences between a relationship based on fear and one based on love by considering the difference between being judged by a stranger and judged by a father. In this way, we’ll be better able to understand how love can cast out fear.

REFLECTION

What responsibilities are you neglecting because of fear? How would love overcome those fears? What steps do you need to take to overcome evil with good? Be specific here about the tasks you need to do.