We Are Not given the Spirit of Fear
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Everyone has a fear. That fear may be the fear of heights, spiders, or snakes. Some may encounter their fears every once in a while or daily. Personally, I struggled with many different fears. As the third child out of four, I felt that I didn’t receive enough attention, which led to my fear of being alone. I dreaded sleeping alone and I would always sleep with my mom. I remember one occasion when I was in first grade. I fell asleep and then woke up noticing that I was sleeping in the bed by myself. I began crying and screaming, waking up everyone in the house, including our neighbors of the town house. I spent hours crying. My parents ignored me thinking that I would eventually stop and fall asleep, but it lasted until the wee hours of the morning. Years later, I eventually became comfortable sleeping by myself, but my fear of being alone remained.
Not only did I fear being alone, but I also feared being judged by others. I would try not to do things that would draw attention to myself. This fear led to the fear of talking in front of people. Since I was so scared of being judged by others, I felt that if I said something people thought was stupid, they would laugh at me. My senior year of high school, I was giving a group presentation in my government class. Prior to us presenting, I was calm. As soon as I got in front of the class and presented my part, I began to sweat, and fumble my words. My fear of talking in front of people was terrible. I was so embarrassed that I felt like I messed up the entire presentation. After our presentation, I sat down in my seat and acted like nothing happened.
After years of living with these fears, I realized that something had to give. After I received and accepted Jesus into my life fully, His Holy Spirit let me know that I wasn’t given the spirit of fear. With His Holy Spirit living inside of me, I am given power and authority to do all things through Christ Jesus. I am in the process of learning how to be alone and be okay with it. Also, Jesus taught me that I don’t need to be scared of any man or anything that man tries to do to me: “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6.)
I believe that we were not born with the spirit of fear. It is a tactic that the devil uses to stop us from accomplishing what Jesus has us to do. No longer will I let fear stop me from accomplishing my destiny. There is something that I was sent to do here while on earth, and I will refuse to let anything stop me.
Not only did I fear being alone, but I also feared being judged by others. I would try not to do things that would draw attention to myself. This fear led to the fear of talking in front of people. Since I was so scared of being judged by others, I felt that if I said something people thought was stupid, they would laugh at me. My senior year of high school, I was giving a group presentation in my government class. Prior to us presenting, I was calm. As soon as I got in front of the class and presented my part, I began to sweat, and fumble my words. My fear of talking in front of people was terrible. I was so embarrassed that I felt like I messed up the entire presentation. After our presentation, I sat down in my seat and acted like nothing happened.
After years of living with these fears, I realized that something had to give. After I received and accepted Jesus into my life fully, His Holy Spirit let me know that I wasn’t given the spirit of fear. With His Holy Spirit living inside of me, I am given power and authority to do all things through Christ Jesus. I am in the process of learning how to be alone and be okay with it. Also, Jesus taught me that I don’t need to be scared of any man or anything that man tries to do to me: “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6.)
I believe that we were not born with the spirit of fear. It is a tactic that the devil uses to stop us from accomplishing what Jesus has us to do. No longer will I let fear stop me from accomplishing my destiny. There is something that I was sent to do here while on earth, and I will refuse to let anything stop me.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.