THE BARNABAS STRATEGY: Fear not! (Part 3)

We are looking at how God equips us to live a courageous life in Christ in a fearful world. Remember, we are not unarmed in the fight against our fears and the related attacks of the enemy. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control’ (2 Tim 1:6-7, ESV)” Last time we examined fear conquering power; now, we look at the unique love of God in the context of fear.

There are three kinds of love in scripture. Eros is romantic love, and philos is familial (brotherly) love. Here, Paul uses the third type which is agape. Agape is “a purely Biblical and ecclesiastical word” which is likely rooted in ancient Greek (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). Some scholars believe it was coined specifically to describe the early Christian understanding of God’s love. It’s the same type of love Paul references in the famous love anthem in 1 Corinthians 13: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (verses 4-7, ESV).

Well, that’s interesting, but how does agape equip us to deal with fear? I’m so glad you asked. Let’s look at just a few ways this happens:
1. Fears (whether rooted in the realities of living in a lost and broken world or resulting from spiritual attack/trauma) are often correlated with falsehoods. Satan is the “father of lies” (Jn 8:44) and ruler of the world (Luk 4:5-8). He generally induces fear into the world and specifically uses fear based lies as a major weapon against us. Agape predisposes believers to seek (rejoice in) the truth. For me, this means that God’s love motivates us to relentlessly pursue God and God’s love (time with the Word, worship, prayer, etc.). This process builds our faith (the opposite of fear) and displaces the lies of the enemy and this world with “… the way and the truth and the life…” (Jn 14:6) of Jesus Christ.

2. Life is a spiritual battlefield often played out as a war of attrition*. If it’s just us against the worldly powers and principalities, we’re in deep trouble. We may do well for quite a while, but we will eventually become tired, worn and depleted. How can we endure? The simple truth is that we can’t by ourselves. But, we are not in this alone. God’s love is accompanied by God’s power (the healing miracles and the resurrection are prime examples; also see Eph 1:15-23). That’s why Paul writes that love can bear and endure all things (without exception). “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, ESV).

At an extremely low point in my life and in response to a frantic prayer of desperation, I felt the unmistakable presence of God next to me on the steps of a townhouse in Hewitt, Texas. It was divine love that motivated His presence; it was the same love that empowered me to endure when I wanted to quit. The Cross of Christ is an ever present reminder of that fear conquering love.

These are just a few examples of how agape equips us to deal with fear. To help you fear not my brothers, I leave you with the words of the Apostle John. Just as God’s love helps us with fears in everyday life, it also insures that we need not fear the day of judgement:

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us (1 Jn4:16-19, ESV).

Next, we will continue Fear Not! by looking at the gift of self-control in the context of living courageous lives in Christ.

The Barnabas Strategy is an initiative of the Holy Spirit free of institutional constraints. … Ron Bellomy

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*A prolonged war or period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear out the other by a series of small-scale actions (for example WWI trench warfare).