Did you know that you can live a life without fear even in this day and age? There is no question that we are living in a time where everything in this world is growing darker; where things seem more dangerous, more uncertain, more chaotic. And it’s no surprise because we are living in the end times. But no matter how threatening life in this world becomes, for the believer, there is light, there is hope, there is safety and security.
We have a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We walk in the THE BLESSING, and we have all that it encompasses.
We have the Word of God.
We have the Name of Jesus.
We have the protection of Almighty God in Psalm 91.
We have authority over evil and every work of the devil in this earthly realm (Ephesians 6:12). And, most importantly, we have authority over the spirit of fear, because we have authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Therefore, no matter how terrifying this world becomes, we don’t have to live in fear. We don’t have to live a minute of our lives feeling afraid of anything.
Granted, there will always be occasions where we will be tempted with the feelings of fear; when the enemy will attempt to paralyze us with his fear—through tragedy, trauma, shocks, diagnoses and things we never saw coming. He will use fear to make us sick, to prevent us from thinking straight, or to move us into a state of confusion. The enemy will do all he can to ensure we live a life filled with pressure, anxiety, stress, anger and worry—all things based in fear. But because we have the God of the universe living on the inside of us, we don’t ever have to receive his fear or walk in it. Yes, it may come against us, but it doesn’t have to stay!
Understandably, particularly because of situations in our lives or what we’ve personally been through in the past, this can feel easier said than done. But the truth is that it can be done. No matter how much fear has gripped you thus far in life, you can start living free from fear today! You can be free for the rest of your life. And probably one of the best ways to start overcoming fear and eradicating it from your life is to start growing in your understanding of love.
God Is Love—the Opposite of Fear
Fear is a spiritual force that came into this world when Adam’s faith fell. God made Adam, and because there is no fear in God, until Adam sinned, there was no fear in him. Adam’s act of high treason opened the door for Satan and all his evil work—including fear—so as soon as Adam sinned, he experienced fear for the first time. “Then the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He [Adam] replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid’” (Genesis 3:9-10).
Because of the work of Jesus on the cross—his death, burial, resurrection and being seated at the right hand of God—we are no longer subject to the fear Adam experienced. When we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, God, who is Love, comes to reside in us. Since there is no fear in Him, there is no fear in love. “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them” (1 John 4:16).
What’s more, 1 John 4 goes on to say, “And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect…. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love” (verses 17-18).
Have you experienced His perfect love? This is where you start growing in your understanding of love—you experience it for yourself. “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (verses 9-10).
Fear Is a Spiritual Force—And So Is Faith
When Adam sinned, what used to be faith was now fear. Because of this, fear is twisted faith. It’s faith that’s going in the wrong direction. It’s the reciprocal of faith, and to be the reciprocal of something means it’s the exact opposite, but in the same class. For example, both fear and faith function in the spirit realm and according to the same laws, but one leads to life, and one leads to death.
In fact, the fear of death is the foundation of all fears. All fear is fundamentally based on the fear of death. When fear comes against us, it overpowers logic. Therefore, we can’t deal with fear based on logic. We have to deal with it in the name of Love, who lives on the inside of us, in faith, because faith works by love (Galatians 5:6).
The Language of Fear and Unbelief
One of the quickest ways to identify fear in our lives is to listen to how often we say, “But what if…?”
What if everything goes wrong?
What if I don’t get well?
What if I die?
What if the money doesn’t come through?
What if? What if? What if?
“What if?” is the language of unbelief—and all unbelief is based in fear. Unbelief is afraid. However, it is not afraid that God can’t. Rather it is afraid that God won’t. It’s being afraid we can’t, and that God won’t do it for us personally. The truth, that we MUST believe, is that all He wants to do is love us, save us, transform us, heal us, prosper us, answer us, comfort us, provide for us and protect us. He wants us to receive and walk in everything that is THE BLESSING. And there’s certainly no fear in that!
We Are Not Orphans—And Only Orphans Have Fear
Speaking to His disciples, telling them about the Holy Spirit who was to come, Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you” (John 14:16-18).
In the Hebrew, an orphan is someone who has no ancestors, no heritage, no background. And according to the Scripture, an orphan is someone without hope. Paul wrote to the Ephesians saying, “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12).
Before Christ we were all living as spiritual aliens and strangers to His promise. We had no hope. We were orphans. But now we are believers in whom God dwells, love dwells and the Holy Spirit dwells—the One who leads, guides and teaches us, much like a parent does.
Romans 5:5 promises us, “This hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
What’s more, fear is created in an atmosphere of no knowledge and requires walking in areas of the unknown. Only orphans have no one to guide them, teach them, love them and parent them. Therefore, only orphans should have fear. We, as believers, are not orphans, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
We are sons and daughters of the Most High (Psalm 82:6). We have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). We are not fatherless. We are children of God (1 John 3:2). We are heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). Therefore, we don’t have to ever give place to fear.
We Have Been Given God’s Spirit—Not a Spirit of Fear
Fear has torment; it is the tormentor. Therefore, none of the torment we face in this earth is ever from God, for there is nothing in Him but love. The Scripture assures us saying, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Love lives in us! Therefore, fear can’t live inside us. All it can do is pressure us from the outside. It’s so much easier to resist, to attack, to cast out and to command it to go when we remember that Love Himself dwells in us!
To get this further into our hearts and minds, we could read John 1 as follows, replacing the word God or any reference to Him with the word LOVE in each mention:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with LOVE, and the Word was LOVE. The same was in the beginning with LOVE. All things were made by LOVE; and without LOVE was not any thing made that was made. In LOVE was life; and the life was the light of men….
“LOVE was in the world, and the world was made by LOVE, and the world knew LOVE not. LOVE came unto Love’s own, and LOVE’s own received LOVE not. But as many as received LOVE, to them gave LOVE power to become the sons of LOVE, even to them that believe on LOVE’S name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but [the will] of LOVE. And the Word [of LOVE] was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld LOVE’S glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father [of LOVE],) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-4, 10-14, KJV).
It’s Time To Live Our Lives Without Fear
Romans 8:37 should be our declaration daily: “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (NKJV). It’s time to live our lives without fear—regardless of what goes on throughout the world, in our communities and in our homes.
God’s protection supersedes the dangers of this world (Psalm 91).
God’s economy is not subject to this world’s (Philippians 4:19).
God’s healing is not bound by any diagnosis in this world (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).
God’s love supersedes all the fear in this world (1 John 4:18).
God’s love supersedes any fear that comes against us. We were made to live on love. We were made to hear love, walk in love, and think love thoughts. It’s our DNA.
God, who is Love, is Love in us. We can trust Love. And live a life without fear.
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