Facing Fear With Kindness (3)

To live without fear we must intentionally receive the kindness and tenderness that is offered by God.  We must bring every thought captive to Him and allow Him to renew our minds.  We must first look to Him to give us peace of mind and the will to forgive.   If we lack compassion, we must allow God to fill us with His sanctified compassion.  We must experience and receive again and again the acceptance and forgiveness of God.  We must declare that God does not condemn those who are in Christ Jesus. 

As we examine our lives before God, we should assess how we are growing in dependence on Him rather than allowing our circumstances to be the measure of our recovery. We should also assess how we are practicing forgiveness of hurtful things from our past and are growing in unity with others.

It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.   I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. (Hosea 11:3-4 NIV)

As we move forward in living lives without fear, we need to focus on God’s kindness and reject our own negative thoughts.  This will require changing our current belief system and bringing it into line with what God says.  Instead of living life based on “I think” we need to risk believing what God says in His word.  We need to come honestly before Him and place ourselves in His care. 

So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.  (1 Peter 2:1-3 MSG)

When we experience God's love we won't want to lash out at others or live isolated in our fears.  Perfect love casts out fear.  (1 John 4:18 NKJV)  Have we come to that place where we truly believe that by relying on God’s unconditional love we can live well in our new life with God in recovery? For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV) 

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