{"id":7915,"date":"2020-03-30T09:55:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T13:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=7915"},"modified":"2020-03-30T09:55:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T13:55:23","slug":"casting-out-fear-with-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Casting Out Fear with Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love\u00a0c<\/span>asts out\u00a0<\/span>f<\/span>ear<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

To address fear, you must first recognize\u00a0that because of the Gospel\u00a0you are addressed as someone God loves.\u00a01 John 4:7-11 says,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

7<\/strong>\u00a0Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.\u00a08<\/strong>\u00a0The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.\u00a09<\/strong>\u00a0By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.\u00a010<\/strong>\u00a0In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.\u00a011<\/strong>\u00a0Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.<\/p>\n

We are called\u00a0\u201cBeloved\u201d\u00a0and we are called to love one another.\u00a0God is love and He set His love upon us in a very specific way in the Gospel of Jesus.\u00a0He set His love upon us to save us\u00a0by dying for us,\u00a0to pay for our sins, so that we might live through Him\u2026living through Him means trusting His\u00a0salvific\u00a0love for you and then\u00a0sacrificially\u00a0loving others\u2014\u201cBeloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have trusted in Christ as your Lord and\u00a0Savior,\u00a0feel free to change your middle name to\u00a0\u201cBeloved\u201d.\u00a0Like this:\u00a0\u201cHi,\u00a0I am Dustin Beloved Folden\u201d. Try it\u00a0on,\u00a0out loud. I am sure\u00a0your\u00a0name\u00a0will have a ring to it just like mine.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The point is,\u00a0when you recognize that you are loved\u00a0beyond\u00a0measure, you can then focus on loving others instead of being fearful.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t fear someone when you are loving\u00a0someone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Try it, I dare you. Try\u00a0saying\u00a0something\u00a0kind, serving someone,\u00a0praising the Lord and see if you can be fearful at the same time. You can\u2019t,\u00a0because\u00a0perfect love casts\u00a0out fear.\u00a0So often we are consumed with what people think of us and we don\u2019t\u00a0interact\u00a0with\u00a0them in a loving way because we are fearful\u00a0of\u00a0what they might say or do to us.\u00a01 John 4:18\u00a0says,\u00a0\u201cThere is no fear in\u00a0love\u201d\u00a0\u2026that is because\u00a0love is about serving others and caring for others,\u00a0just as Christ demonstrated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

17<\/strong>\u00a0By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.\u00a018<\/strong>\u00a0There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.<\/p>\n

Fear that is not a reverence for God, is\u00a0self-focused<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Love is about serving others,\u00a0and in contrast,\u00a0fear is about serving yourself.\u00a0We are called to fear the Lord or have a respect and\u00a0reverence\u00a0for Him. But we are not called to fear\u00a0and be worried and\u00a0overwhelmed\u00a0with thoughts of reverence\u00a0for\u00a0ourselves.\u00a0Fear involves punishment,\u00a0and so\u00a0fear is\u00a0concerned\u00a0with what might happen to me in the short-term or in the long-term.\u00a0In short, fear is\u00a0self-consumed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now the fear that is in focus here is not\u00a0being scared as if you were face-to-face with a lion. In that scenario,\u00a0I\u00a0think we would all be scared and rightfully so.\u00a0We want to\u00a0preserve and\u00a0protect life\u00a0because\u00a0human\u00a0beings\u00a0are image\u00a0bearers\u00a0of the\u00a0King of the universe.\u00a0Even when we are seeking to be good stewards of our bodies\u00a0and we seek to protect\u00a0life,\u00a0we can do so with a reverence for the Lord.\u00a0But\u00a0man-centered\u00a0fear is about imagining what others think of you and imagining what might happen to you\u00a0as if you were the center of the universe.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We all struggle with fear to various degrees,\u00a0especially\u00a0<\/span>in the midst of<\/span>\u00a0uncertain times. But fear is to be cast out, it is not to be left to grow in greater and greater influence\u00a0over our thinking and over our lives.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Note\u00a0the\u00a0focus\u00a0on\u00a0\u2018perfected\u2019\u00a0in the text.\u00a0We are to be perfected or matured in love\u00a0because the Gospel has had a genuine impact on our life\u2026in other words,\u00a0we must constantly be growing and maturing in knowing the love of God and applying the love of God to how we live. How we think about ourselves and others\u00a0is the foundation to\u00a0casting\u00a0out\u00a0self-focused\u00a0fear.\u00a0The reason\u00a0we must\u00a0seek to cast out fear\u00a0is because we are\u00a0loved\u00a0and\u00a0we are to be conduits of God\u2019s love\u2026not conduits of fear and\u00a0self-focus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perfect\u00a0love seeks to grow in casting out fear.\u00a0Every day\u00a0is a great day to cast out fear and replace it with the\u00a0love of Christ.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Practical ways to put off fear and\u00a0to\u00a0love right now<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Read the\u00a0Bible looking to learn more about God,who is love,\u00a0and\u00a0how God\u2019s love is manifested in the\u00a0Gospel of Christ.\u00a0Each day write down one aspect of the Gospel\u00a0of Jesus Christ\u00a0that helps you think about the eternal, infinite,\u00a0overwhelming love of God\u00a0and\u00a0how,\u00a0in Christ,\u00a0you are called \u201cBeloved\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Make a list of 10 people in your life\u2014on\u00a0that list make sure you have those with physical vulnerabilities and spiritual needs. When you find yourself thinking about yourself and what might happen to you, recognize that is self-focused fear and shift your focus to pray, asking\u00a0the Lord to protect one of the people on your list. Ask\u00a0Him\u00a0that the\u00a0love of Christ\u00a0will\u00a0impact\u00a0them so that they,\u00a0too,\u00a0are casting out fear.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Love\u00a0casts out\u00a0fear\u00a0 To address fear, you must first recognize\u00a0that because of the Gospel\u00a0you are addressed as someone God loves.\u00a01 John 4:7-11 says,\u00a0 7\u00a0Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.\u00a08\u00a0The one who does not love does not know God, for God… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11809],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCasting Out Fear with Love - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Casting Out Fear with Love - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Love\u00a0casts out\u00a0fear\u00a0 To address fear, you must first recognize\u00a0that because of the Gospel\u00a0you are addressed as someone God loves.\u00a01 John 4:7-11 says,\u00a0 7\u00a0Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.\u00a08\u00a0The one who does not love does not know God, for God... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-30T13:55:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200330095454\/Love-Fear.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1641\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1020\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dustin Folden\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dustin Folden\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/\",\"name\":\"Casting Out Fear with Love - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-30T13:55:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-30T13:55:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/1a2538d0306e712e8a2ba2ddb7d715c7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/casting-out-fear-with-love\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Casting Out Fear with Love\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/1a2538d0306e712e8a2ba2ddb7d715c7\",\"name\":\"Dustin Folden\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121659\/FoldenDustin.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121659\/FoldenDustin.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Dustin Folden\"},\"description\":\"Pastor Dustin Folden and his wife Trisha joined the Pastoral Staff in 2010. 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