For the longest time I've always told myself "tell people how you feel while you have the chance, you never know when you might not." Well I can't say that I've held to that word... most of the time I do but recently I've found myself having to tear down some more walls. Funny how you think you're done with demolition and you turn around to find another hallway that you didn't realize was there...
So last night was my date night with myself. I made myself dinner, got a nice fuzzy blanket, curled up on my couch and read a great book and watched a movie. As I read the book I saw a lot of myself in the characters. It was a romance novel (hey don't judge me.. lol) and the two parties had both faced difficult pasts and trials that deeply scarred them. They were both paralyzed by fear and about to miss out on something wonderful because of it. Many times we limit ourselves because we're afraid... afraid we'll fail, being alone, afraid of what it looks like to others, being a bad parent, afraid of the unknown, afraid of being hurt again, losing someone you love, afraid we're not good enough, being made a fool of, afraid of success, or even the expectation to succeed again if it works the first time.
More than anything, we allow fear to stop us dead in our tracks. It's the invisible assassin. Fear has killed more things than anything i can think of. It causes you to panick, become desperate, act out of character, be paranoid, run away, give up, make bad decisions, and even abort your purpose/destiny. It can kill your dreams, ruin relationships, cause you to settle, and even lead to death.
But God has not given us the spirit of fear, so where does it come from?? The enemy knows our end... he was there when God declared it from the beginning. If he can keep us bound by fear we'll never realize the potential in the things we're afraid to step into. We'll never realize who we really are and how much power lies within us.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
God gave us the spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind... NOT FEAR! So let's break this down a little bit so we can understand what He's talking about..
Power, in this instance dunamis, which means the ability; strength, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature
Love, agape- not eros or phileo,which is the same selfless love God has for us
Sound Mind, which is sophronismos- being called to soundness of mind, meaning our mind is whole; moderation and self-control
Then we know that the spirit God gave us is powerful and has great ability, is loving, is whole and has self-control. These things are important when battling fear because we have to have the ability to do the thing we're afraid of. The same power (also dunamis) that raised Jesus from the dead quickens our mortal bodies and is still moving. Perfect love, which is agape, casts out all fear. Lastly, our mind is the home of our thoughts... If we have a sound min our thinking and judgement are not in error and we can clearly recall who Jesus is, what the word says, and who we are in Him.
I am overcoming the fears that i discovered and I got a wrecking ball to tear down the walls I'd built from fear. So I'm setting myself free, delivering myself, and conquering those fears with the help and trust of the Lord. Today, take a minute to conquer your giant by facing your fear. Acknowledge it cast it down and tell it that its time is up in your life.
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