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. Fear is Not From God & There is No Such Thing as “Healthy Fear”.

It doesn’t get any more clear than that! This cannot be misinterpreted and there are not multiple interpretations. It says what is says. Fear does not come from God and there is no such thing as “Healthy Fear”. 

God does not give nor does he send, the spirit of fear. If it’s not from God it can only come from one other place. Satan.

Stop you from what?

LIFE…

It’s a paralytic poison that if allowed to permeate, WILL stop you from living the abundant, blessed life God has for you. 

Looking back at our opening scripture in 1 Timothy we see first that indeed God has not given to us nor sent, a spirit of fear. The Apostle Paul elaborates by telling us what spirit the Lord HAS given to us.

A Spirit of POWER!

Hallelujah! Power?! Yes, POWER.

We have been given power by the blood of Jesus to overcome anything that the enemy throws our way. We have dominion over him. He has been defeated. His head crushed by the heel of our Lord Jesus! 

The word power is not an adjective but a verb. It suggests use, action. A tool if you will. We have his spirit of power to use as a tool against anything the enemy brings.

Love!

Another action word! He has given us a spirit of LOVE. Not a feeling of love. But the act of loving people. He says to love our enemies, but what does that mean exactly?

I am certain that our Lord Jesus didn’t “feel” love for those who persecuted him. At least not the warm and fuzzy kind. He felt compassion and sadness for sure. But a warm and fuzzy love feeling, not so much. Even so, his words and actions demonstrated to us exactly how and what this spirit of love is. He most definitely loves the entire world but my guess is he doesn’t so much like everyone. And he still took the punishment for the sins of the world.

He was fully aware of the evil spirit behind all sin. 

I believe this is the key to loving people as he does. When you accept the fact that it is perfectly okay to not like a person, you begin to see how it is still possible to love them. 

That spirit of love is in you so just act on it. Every human being on earth deserves basic respect. The mere fact that they are human beings created in the image of God grants them that respect. This basic respect is not earned. It is a God-given right! The concept of loving the unloveable is the one thing that fulfills God’s entire law.

A Sound Mind!!

Fear is the exact opposite of a sound mind. When you are giving in to that wicked spirit of fear you are absolutely not of sound mind at that moment! Fear causes us to do things that are not rational. Our minds get clouded and set on one track. The wrong track. 

He died so that you could have a sound mind!!! Honor that and take what is rightfully yours by the precious blood of Jesus Christ!

Healthy Fear?

NO! It does not exist.

Fear is never rational. I believe people mistake RESPECT for FEAR when they talk about a healthy fear of something. 

Let me illustrate for you from a personal story. 

When my middle child was just a baby and my oldest was three, we lived in a beautiful small mountain town. Plenty of those out here in Colorado. Anyway, this little town just happens to be smack dab in the middle of the highest concentration of Black Bear population in all of Colorado.

The place is literally crawling with Black Bears.

At first, I didn’t mind them. 

There were many stories of break-ins and sightings of Black Bears were common. I enjoyed seeing them occasionally. I considered it a blessing. That year, in particular, was a bad drought year and there was not much food for the bears in the high country. They were so hungry. The break-in stories and sightings increased to a point that it was a safety concern for the community. 

Fear started to develop over time. I let my mind run with it. The lies from the enemy were believable and I listened and believed.

The house we lived in was old and small. It was a split floor plan with the bedrooms on opposite ends. The front door was a rickety sliding glass door. The windows in both bedrooms were large floor to ceiling windows.

The House Was Surrounded by Forrest.

We had a couple of bears get into our trash. Once they discover a food source they typically come back to that spot in search of food. They kept coming back. We tried to tie up the trash. We had two dogs that went berzerk when a bear was around. These bears were used to barking dogs. Everyone had dogs. 

My husband was working nights at this time as well. I was alone with two very young children, in a home that I did not feel was secure enough to keep a bear out. A hungry bear. 

One Evening,

I had just finished giving my baby a bath. She wasn’t feeling well, teething and very fussy. My 4-year-old was playing in her room. Sometime, somewhere along the lines, I had heard that a bear will come into a rabbit squeal call, just like a coyote would looking for an easy meal. Sometimes a baby crying can sound similar to a rabbit squeal call. More on that later. 

The dogs started barking outside and I knew that there was a bear nearby. In the middle of dressing my baby, I looked up to see a huge bear walk past the bedroom window. His entire body was visible courtesy of the floor to ceiling windows I mentioned earlier. I grabbed up my baby and ran to the kitchen window with her in my arms, hollered out “Get out of here” and slammed the kitchen window shut. 

Never did see the bear run off but my dogs went crazy and then settled down so I knew he must’ve. 

This event,

coupled with my build-up of fear gave a foothold for the enemy. He robbed me of sleep. The outdoors that once brought me pure joy now gave me extreme anxiety. I hated going out. The fear and stress ruled me. I convinced myself that this bear had heard my baby crying and was going to come in and try to eat her. 

Some might call this a “healthy fear” or perhaps healthy respect for an animal that could potentially be dangerous. But, when the fear starts to interfere with your life you know it has gone way beyond “healthy respect”.

The fear got so bad I started making plans to put my kids in the car after my husband left for work and go sleep in the well-lit grocery store parking lot. I never did that. 

I told my husband my plan, all the while thinking it was a completely rational and reasonable option. I’ll never forget the look on his face. He looked at me like I was completely nuts! That look and his words that followed snapped me back into reality. 

For the first time,

I understood the absurdity of this fear. As a family of hunters, we had guns in the house and I knew how to use them. If it came down to it I could have protected my babies and my home no problem. 

But, that fear paralyzed me. It caused me to think irrationally. Thank God Almighty I was freed from that!

We should never tolerate fear in our lives. Especially now knowing that fear is not from God!

Did you know…

Not by accident I’m sure. Remember every day to FEAR NOT! You can make a conscious decision to not be in fear. Fear starts with thoughts. Thoughts that are untrue. They fester and grow into anxiety. If you stop the thoughts before they grow into a full-fledged fear, you have conquered fear! Prevention is key. Philippians 4:6-8 tells us exactly how to prevent fear!

Next Sunday

I’ll show you from the word how to stop fear and anxiety before it starts!

Leigh Ann ♥:)

Leigh Ann

Leigh Ann Schooley is the owner and founder of Making My Abode, a blog dedicated to helping homemakers live well and simply on one income. She is a believer, wife, and mother of three with more than sixteen years of homemaking experience. Leigh Ann is the recipient of the Wife of The Year award eighteen years running. She has also won the Mother of The Year award every year for the past sixteen years. She is a Colorado native raised by her dad who taught her almost everything she knows. Leigh Ann lives with her husband and family in Colorado.