Fear is a Choice

The perspective of the Bible reveals love is a choice.  The divine love revealed through Jesus Christ springs of grace from the goodness of God.  In obedience to the Father's will, Jesus rejoiced to demonstrate His love for sinners even through the suffering of the cross.  This love is not seated on the rise and flow of the emotions, nor is it at the mercy of circumstance.  It is a constant, active love that is ever reaching out to man from the sole pure source of love:  God.

One of the commands Jesus gave to His followers is that we would love one another as He has loved us.  We choose to love therefore on the basis of His active love, not on how we feel at any given time.  Our motivation for loving others is not their worthiness, but out of the same grace God has shown us.  Because the Holy Spirit resides within us, we are enabled to love as God loves.  It is a conscious decision we are called to make to demonstrate this love to all regardless of their performance or views of us.  This sacrificial love is a supernatural fruit of the Spirit within us that is bourne when we abide in Christ through faith.

This week God spoke to me so clearly about another choice we as Christians are called and empowered to make:  the choice to fear.  Did you know that fear - just like love - is a choice?  You might think, "I can't help it if I am afraid."  If you are not a Christian, I quite agree with you.  I fear for you!  But if you are a Christian, you have been given the strength and wisdom to walk according to God's perfect will.  Anyone can be given a fright, but the fear I am speaking of can also be called dread, preoccupation, worry, or fearful uncertainty.  As a Christian, we are given the power to refuse to sin and instead walk in righteousness.

To paraphrase Luther concerning sin, he said something to the effect of "You can't keep birds from flying overhead, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair."  The temptation itself is not sin.  It is our acquiescing response to the temptation which causes sin to be conceived and brought forth.  Satan will surely send his fiery darts and temptations to sin our way, but the shield of faith has the power to block them harmlessly to the ground.  When the idea of sin barges into our minds through our senses or a satanic suggestion, Christians have a real choice:  to flee from the temptation and seek God, or choose to entertain the idea of sin.  We sin when our sin nature is awakened by temptation and we choose to entertain it.  Even before we put it into practice when we toy with the ideas conceived, we are in sin.  Jesus said if someone looks at a woman with lust in their heart, he or she has already committed adultery.

When it comes to fear, we have a choice set before us.  As soon as we recognise our preoccuption or worry, our call is to choose to be casting our cares upon Christ, committing our situation and the outcome into His hands.  David wrote in Psalm 56:2-4, "My enemies would hound me all day, for there are many who fight against me, O Most High. ³ Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁴ In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?"  Every person on the earth has very real fear, even as we have a sin nature by birth.  David used fear as a trigger to cause him to seek God instead.  He said, "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You."  When David was struck with paralysing fear, he looked to God as his Saviour and Deliverer.  This enabled him to maintain a godly perspective when fear struck his heart.  Then he was no longer afraid because He trusted God and his Word.

Let us choose to flee from the temptation to fear.  When the wind blows and the waves crash against us, when everything seems uncertain and frightening, let us look to Christ and the scriptures.  His nail-scarred hands reach to lift us up, and His eyes are filled with love.  When we see Him and recognise Him as Creator of All and Saviour of our souls, all fear melts away.  Then we can love as He loves, for it is His love which is revealed through us.