Fear or Faith?

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18 NKJV

Perfect love is faith at its most supreme, and most sublime. Perfect love is the goal every Christian should aspire to, and never lose the drive for its excellence. There are clever men and women who will debate whether we can achieve it in this life, or if we have to wait until our life in Heaven, but from this short verse, one thing is certain, even to the less educated among us. Faith or fear, but you can’t have both. They are mutually exclusive.

Imagine a balance scale, with Faith on one side, and Fear on the other. As you add to the Faith side, the Fear side gets lighter, and vice versa. It is extremely difficult to get a 50:50 balance on the Christian life between these two feelings, so we are encouraged by the apostle John to make sure we use Perfect Love to eliminate Fear. Is this possible? If it is in the Word of God, it is not only possible, it is to be our goal, and yes it can be achieved.

The battlefield of Fear and Faith is best demonstrated when a crisis happens. It can be in a hospital room, or a school classroom, or even in a church among friends. It is best explained as that feeling of being cared for more by your loving God, than the fear which the devil puts in our heart. Easy? No way. Possible? Yes, and is our best refuge in a time of crisis. Ask any Christian who has been there, and don’t take the word of someone who may mean well, but has not shared the experience of having to act with fear, but in spite of it, use their faith.