Something that I have been pondering for some time is the concept of fear and how it applies to the Christian.

Why do we fear?

Fear is a human concept that ultimately hinders us from a greater life. No I’m not talking about fame and riches and a palace made of ivory. What fear keeps us from is a full life God has in store for us. It keeps us “safe”.

• keeps us from godly relationships
• Keeps us in damaged relationships
• Keeps us from pursuing a better job
• Starting a college career
• From moving and starting a new life
• From personal or monetary investments
• Starting a family
• It could even keep us from knowing Jesus, or perhaps from living our lives for Him.

There is a number of other ways fear can stop us. These are just a few examples I have noticed.

I recently watched a movie called Divination. This is a Christian movie that helps give some enlightenment to the spiritual realm and how it operates.

Is it demonic or personal?

Fear is not always personal, likewise it is not always demonic. But you can get a better idea of its source by identifying what the fear is.

People who know me also know that I have an extreme fear of heights. So much that thinking about climbing a ladder makes me nervous, I even begin to grip the ladder right and climb ever so slowly the moment I get on the second step. Is this sinful? Yes. Which we will cover in a moment.

Demonic Fear

The demon of fear can be identified in our lives in a number of ways, usually by what it is preventing us from, or the thought it plants in our minds about a certain issue.

• They will never accept you.
• Your not good enough to do that. Unqualified.
• People will think your crazy
• You can’t afford to take that risk.
• You’ll never be accepted by God, you have too much sin in your life.

These are ways in which demonic fear keeps us held back, by planting ideas that prevent us from accomplishing some special event or task in our life.

Personal fear

While fear in general can be labeled as sinful, it’s not always influenced by demonic sources. Personal fear is something that comes in our human nature, a fear for survival in some way or another. My fear of heights for example.

Personal fears usually are something much less meaningful that have little to no impact on how you progress in your life.

• Fear of spiders
• Heights
• Clowns
• Insects

You get the idea right?

It been said that “fear not” is written 365 times in the Bible, to save us from that heresy it’s actually less than 90, the addition times “fear not” is used it, well… let’s just say it’s not something you want to relate to.

In reality we should only need one command from the Lord not to fear. When we look at all the courage His prophets had, how much they accomplished because of their fearless living.

Abraham: Left his pagan family to follow a God he may not have known into the wilderness to start a new people.

Joseph: Bold enough to inform an all powerful Pharoah of a famine that will come and last 7 years.

Moses: Confronted Pharoah and opposed Him. And lead slaves out of his control, a man with limited resources and absolutely no army.

Daniel: Opposing pagan laws and continued to pray to the Lord even though it could possibly end in death. Even went as far as telling a king “your reign is at its end”.

Jesus, the apostles and Paul. All of them lived the same life. They feared NOTHING this world had to offer when focused on the God who provided for them. The only thing they feared was a fear for the Lord.

Conclusion

It is important for the Christian to strive to live outside of fear, not only because it is a sin. But because it ultimately hinders is from what God wants to provide us with, or even calls us to do according to His will.

By living in fear, we are not living in faith.

Learn more HERE.