Lesson 2 is all about the second part of Sis. Christie’s blog. Pay close attention and remember that you can always come back to it if you need to.
In this teaching about conquering fear, we are going to talk about what I believe is the most important key to not only overcoming fear but also the key to having a close relationship with God in every area of our lives. It is understanding the love God has for us.
1 John 4:18-19 — “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.”
In the last teaching, we talked about how fear is a spirit and not just an emotion (2 Timothy 1:7). In 1 John 4:18, the Bible tells us how this spirit is cast out. It is through understanding God’s love for us. You may think like I did that you already know that God loves us. But when I really examined my life, I realized that knowing that God loves me was not affecting my daily life. And it certainly wasn’t helping me get rid of fear. I needed to have a better understanding of God’s love in order to see the changes in my life that I desired.
So first we have to find out what God’s love looks like. Ideally, we would have seen examples in our friends and family but many of us didn’t have that benefit due to our own families being hurt and broken. We can’t give out God’s unconditional love for others if we haven’t received it ourselves.
Let’s look in God’s Word to see what His love looks like.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 — “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
The word charity means love. It is G26 in the Strong’s Concordance.
1 John 4:16 — “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
God is love. He doesn’t just have love. He actually is love. Love in this verse is the same word G26.
All the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13 are the characteristics of God. Let’s look at some of the attributes of love.
-Patient (suffereth long)
-Kind
-Doesn’t envy
-Is not proud, doesn’t put self first (vaunts not itself, not puffed up)
-Behaves appropriately (not unseemly)
-Seeks the good of others rather than self first(seeks not her own)
-Is not easily angered or upset( not easily provoked)
-Doesn’t think evil of us or keep a record of our wrongs(thinketh no evil)
-Rejoices in truth
-Patiently endures(beareth all things)
-Believes in us(believeth all things)
-Hopes in us
-Remains and abides (endureth all things)
-Love never fails
*definitions from the Strong’s Concordance*
Not only does God want us to have this kind of love toward others but He has this kind of love toward us.
Fear comes many times because we feel all alone and have problems we don’t know how to handle. The truth is as a born-again believer, God is always with us. He wants to help us and love us. As we receive these truths, fear will leave. How do we receive these truths? We make a decision to believe what the Word says no matter what happens or what kind of attacks are going on in our minds. There will be attacks because the enemy really doesn’t want us to receive and operate in God’s love. Here are a few more scriptures for meditation:
Romans 8:37-39 — “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hebrews 13:5-6 — “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 — “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Make a decision today to start receiving the love God has for you. As these truths become real in your life, fear has to leave!
–Sis. Christie
