Felt like the Lord was telling me to write the following Blog... that someone will be set free in order that they may grow more balanced in life through Christ.
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Fear can be a motivator or a detractor in finding truths and growing in character. I think it is good to look at the root of all our motivations to see if they line up with God's Word.
2 Timothy 1:7, (NKJV) New King James Version
"7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
The Bible calls fear a spirit, and that God has not given this to us. We then see that scripture tells us what God has given us... power, love and a sound mind.
There are two basic types of fear:
-Fear of God: reverence and astonishment of Him
-Fear of loss: which stems from a lack of trust in God.
At the core of our personalities is our belief system… in a Christian it should be one of trust in God. For example, when Jesus was asleep in the bottom of the boat, the disciples cried out” do you not care that we perish?” (Mark 4:31-35) Why did they say that? They feared the storm. Why did they fear the storm? Lack of trust in Jesus, which was lack of faith as He called it. They were viewing a life difficulty through a filter of self limitation, fear of loss not basing their belief on Christ himself, who is limitless (Matthew 19:26).
Haven’t you ever known two children with the same parents, similar life circumstances grow up to be total opposites? Our personalities are formed out of our faith beliefs and personal experiences. These beliefs and experiences shape how we react, respond and view life, which is often referred to as filters directing us towards our current belief system.
For instance, take two people who have a similar trauma happen to them when they are young. One person may react to the life difficulty by gravitating to “love” and “grace” almost exclusively. We sometimes call this person an “Enabler” in their relationships. The other person may gravitate toward “order and law”, which may make him/her feel comfortable having structure and boundaries. This person is more commonly known as “Controlling and Manipulating” in their relationships.
If both people are open to God’s leading and correction, then He will guide them to more balanced and healthy personalities. At their core, they both have fear(s) stemming from life traumas, that have not been dealt with.
All of life can be found in Christ and it is through Him that we are sanctified. He promises as we look to Him in all things, that He will grow our faith and trust of Him thereby overcoming our limitations bringing us into a God centered healthy balance. (Hebrews 12:1,2 -11)
Praying for you,
Pastor Sandy
