It cripples.
It steals joy.
It devastates lives.
For a long time I've been fascinated by fear, I think because I'm naturally a fearful person. It's not that I want to be fearful, and a lot of people would tell me I'm brave, but the truth is that fear is something I keep coming back to. People tell me I'm not fearful because I moved across the world on my own, I travel on my own, I try new things, etc etc. What they don't know is that I do those things not because of a lack of fear, but either out of necessity or as a way to rebel against the fear that threatens to cripple me.
I talk about fear a lot, and how as Christians we are called to live in a spirit of love and not of fear. Our God is one of love and not of fear. Fear makes us suspicious or hateful of those who are not like us. Love makes us relish differences and savour the opportunity to have our world broadened by another person created in the image of God. Fear keeps us from enjoying the adventure of life. Love makes us jump into adventure with both feet. That's the way I see it in my mind, but it's not the way my emotions always go.
Love seems harder than fear, but the rewards of love are huge and eternal. In John 14 Jesus talks about love for and from the Father. Our love for the Father calls us to follow his commands (which are basically to love him and others) and the Father's love for us allows us to be in relationship with him and to find a home with him (John 14:23). At a time in my life where I am transitioning from one "home" to another, the promise of a home with God is a pretty great prospect.
Verse 27 is the most well-know verse in this passage, and the one that most relates to fear. In fact, it commands me not to fear. It doesn't matter how many times I read this verse, this passage, I am reminded of the love of Jesus and one of the greatest gifts he gives. Peace. Jesus had peace, and he gives us that peace. That peace is a result of love from and for the Father, and it's something we are given as a gift when we love the Father.
It's not the peace of the world. The peace of a good job, health, wealth, fun, leisure, etc. It is a deep and abiding peace that flows out of love. It is a peace that allows us to live because our hearts are not troubled and we are not crippled by fear. It's a peace that says that troubles of the world may come, but God's love is enduring and we have an eternal home in and with him. It is a peace that allows me to shake my fears of failure, isolation, pain, and apathy.
Jesus offers us the peace that frees us from fear and comes first from being loved by God and then by loving God and others. I want this peace. I want this freedom.
Love, not fear, leads to peace.
