From fear to faith

In one sense, of course, fear of the Lord is a good thing. But in many other contexts, fear is the opposite of faith. Jim Martin has been addressing issues of fear and confidence in a couple of recent blog posts. Consider these thoughts, for example:

Fear can kill the ministry of a church. It is easy to get among believers and spread fear instead of confidence in the Lord. Satan uses bad news spread by joy robbers to defeat people -- to spread our anxiety instead of our God-given courage. We can leave one another even more anxious than before we came together.

Too true. So how do we grow beyond an unhealthy fear? Here's an important part of the answer:

Realize that God treasures you and is worthy of your trust. You can rest in the security of knowing God cherishes you. Go ahead and tell me you are not perfect. Tell me you make a lot of mistakes. Tell me you are weak at times and say or do all the wrong things. I will tell you that God absolutely cherishes you. His love for you does not come about because you finally got it together. His love for you comes out of his very character.

Yes.