…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)
If you receive a box that SAYS it is from me… but includes Kale, you can be completely sure of one thing. It did NOT come from me. Obviously, you can like Kale if you want to, but Kale has been expunged and outlawed from my life. I wouldn’t even give Kale to a stray dog. I certainly wouldn’t give Kale to you. You can count on it.
In the same way, any fear you have does not come from God.
Someone might try to claim that fear isn’t all bad. We convince ourselves, sometimes, that fear is reasonable reaction to a threat. We persuade ourselves, sometimes, that fear is fine THIS time. We think, sometimes, that we can’t help BUT fear.
But fear does not come from God.
While we don’t know exactly why Timothy was afraid, we do see clearly Paul’s three-fold advice to get rid of that fear. Paul says we can face down our fear with Power, Love, and Self-Control. We’ll be looking at how those three things banish fear over the next few days.
But even when we do, the main idea will be the same.
Fear does not come from God.
When we are afraid, it comes from somewhere else.
It really doesn’t matter where it comes from. Fear might come from insecurity, doubt, false understanding, lies, past experiences, self-focus, a very real threat, a BIGGER very real threat, or Satan’s whispering. But ultimately the origins of fear do nott matter. I want to get rid of it.
Because fear is not from God.