Now Goናሙና

Love more, fear less

There have been many times when I wanted to share my faith with others, but fear stopped me. Fear is real. Fear makes you feel scared and intimidated. Fear makes you assume the worst outcome rather than the best. Fear of rejection, fear of ridicule, fear of failure - these fears stop us from telling others the good news about Jesus. So, the question is, how do we face our fears and overcome them? The answer is love. Not human love, which can come and go, but God's perfect love. In our scripture today, it says 'perfect love casts out all fear'. God is love. He did not create love or form love; he is love. Yet, by his Holy Spirit, he grows love within us, since love is a fruit of the Spirit. So, when we spend time in his presence, in worship, prayer and reading his word, we grow in courage and boldness. Our hearts also begin to break for the things that break God's heart - especially the people around us. Often, when I spend time with God, I find myself loving people more and wanting to share my faith with them more. When we love people more than we fear them, we will share our faith with them.

Today, we don't need to strive to be fearless; we just need to spend some time in God's presence and ask him to transform us from the inside out, so that fear does not stop us from sharing our faith with others.

Who can you start a conversation with today, or share your story with? Maybe it starts by sending them a message to encourage them. If the thought of that is causing you fear right now, then take a risk and you'll see how God is with you.