Fear is a liar.

A recent tweet by Sarah Cunningham (Sarah Cunningham on Twitter) actually startled me.

She had sent the above photo with the caption "Fear is a liar." 

It's true and it's such a powerful statement.

In my own life God has been speaking to me about fear. 

For years I was living a very fear-focused life. That is, I either did, or didn't do most things out of fear. I judged people, primarily because of fear. Fear produced a reflexive defense of rushing past getting to know someone on the way to labeling them.  It was a very convenient way to sidestep even the very beginnings of relationship.

Fear got in the way of knowing. It was absolutely life-inhibiting and like an emotional cancer eating away at my soul.

Here's other things that fear can do:
. stunt our intellectual and emotional growth
. contribute to selfish behavior
. spawn me-centered thinking
. stifle honest relationships
. stunt creativity
. lower our expectations of ourselves and others
. limit our understanding of God
. limit our ability to go after true wisdom

So if fear is so pervasive and powerful, what's the cure? 

I'm thinking of two things, both based on Bible verses.

"The truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)

Yes, that's a fairly generic statement, but that doesn't stop it from being true, and it helps set us up for the next verse, which is:

"Perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18)

It might help to get a little context; a few verses before this one, John writes "We know how much God loves us and we put our trust in God's love." (vs. 16)

This morning, I was motivated to pause and reflect and give thanks for the perfect love of God for each of us. Among other things, what I'm seeing in these verses is that because God loves us with perfect love, we don't have to fear.

Very simple stuff, for certain, but just as certainly very powerful.

Fear is a liar and it does great damage to those it controls. On the other hand God's perfect love offers a way out of fear-based living. We don't have to give in to fear any longer because God's perfect love casts it out. The truth is: We are all loved. 

Here are (just a few) things that God's (perfect) love does:
. sets us free
. moves us towards other-centered living
. replaces judgment with mercy and grace.
. promotes healing and emotional strength

A very wise spiritual director once told me, "You can't give away what you don't have."

My prayer this morning is that each of us would choose to live in God's love!