Faith Or Fear

Everybody is afraid of something. Fear steals our faith. Where there is fear there is no faith, fear is the absence of faith.

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death"

Heb 2:14-15

This passage says that Satan uses fear to enslave us. Here are a couple common fears that enslave us.

1. FEAR OF FAILURE

We are made to feel like failures. We are constantly told by the world that we are failing in some area of our life. Mechanics always tell you what’s wrong with your car. Nutritionists are always scaring us by telling us that our diet is harmful and destructive. Hollywood tells women that they need to look a certain way in order to be beautiful. Spiritually the church can feel just as bad!!!! We are told to be gentle loving, yet firm and steadfast. We need to love the lost, but not be influenced by them. We are to be unique, yet not a loner. We are supposed to be courageous yet prudent. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The solution to this feeling of inevitable failure? For too many of us the solution is to not try at all. Why try? I don’t wanna fail!

The real failure is when we compare ourselves to others. Gal 6:4 says "Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load" Track athletes have a term called "personal best" this refers to their best time in their particular event. They use this standard to rate themselves because they realize that this is the only standard they can you to properly measure their performance. Are you afraid of failing spritually? God just expects your personal best.

2. FEAR OF COMMITTMENT

We hate committment. We want money back guarantees, we need to see written contracts because we don’t wanna be a part of anything that might ensnare us. What is the remedy for this incureable fear of committing myself to God?

"Consequently faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ"

Rom 10:17

Our fear of commitment comes from our lack of knowledge. I trust my friend Rav, I trust him with my car, my money etc. That’s because I know him, I’ve known him for many years. I like neighbour, he’s a nice guy, but I don’t yet trust him wiht my car or money, or very much for that matter. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with him I just don’t know him! Are you afraid of committing your life to God? You obviously don’t know him very well. Practically? Read your bible, read the gospels get to know the character of Christ. Too many people call themselves Christians yet don’t know their way around the bible.