Let's examine how we can overcome the ‘Spirit of Fear’ as a born-again Christian.
In my own Christian walk there have been many times when I have allowed ‘fear’ to prevent me from doing things that I know God wants me to do. There have been times when I have not done things because I have had a fear of what other people might think and say about me. There have also been times when I have not done or said things because I have been afraid of failing or because they have seemed to be too difficult for me to do.
In these times I know that I have either robbed somebody of a blessing or robbed myself of being blessed or both. All these things have caused me plenty of heartache and disappointment over the years. But God in His infinite love, grace and mercy gives us plenty of room to keep trying. Try and try again until we get it right! Praise His name!Now, we all know that there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. But how do we overcome the fear that prevents us from doing the things that we know God wants us to do?
If you are like me then you will find some things easy to do and some things that are not so easy to do and many things that I’ve been too scared to do!
From the below scripture; the Apostle Paul is speaking to his young prodigy Timothy; and through Paul's words to Timothy, revelation came to me from the Holy Spirit from a scripture I had read many many times before true revelation hit me, I came to understand the true nature of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].
Let me show you what I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me about this scripture.
Firstly, what did I initially understand by the word ‘fear?’
My own little definition was this: ‘fear is something in me that makes me scared to do or say something.’ I don’t know where this feeling of fear comes from or how to stop it coming! I do know that it prevents me from doing the things I know that God wants me to do and hampers my Christian walk to maturity.
Secondly, what does the verse in Timothy tell me about fear?
It tells me that the fear is a spirit, and this spirit does not come from God (For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear).
So, if fear does not come from God, where does it come from? Well, anything that does not come from God can only come from one other place and if fear is a spirit, as it says in our verse, then the spirit of fear is an evil spirit and thus, in most cases, comes from the devil.
At this point I feel I need to mention that the fear the Apostle Paul is speaking about here is not the fear we should have when we are referring to the fear of God as in the below verse. The fear of God is a reverent fear born out of a genuine desire not to sin or do evil because the consequences of sin are not good for us.
Proverbs 8:13b (NIV)
To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
The fear Paul is referring to in 2 Timothy 1:7 is the fear of things that are destructive and harmful to us. The fear of man that prevents us being compliant with the things of God. The things that are not of the Spirit but are of the flesh!
Now that it has been established that the spirit of fear is from the devil, how do we overcome it? Fear is a state of mind and Satan wants to control our minds by filling them with lies and fear!
We now have to understand that overcoming the spirit of fear is a spiritual battle and is not a fight against flesh and blood.
Ephesians 6:12 (AMP)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
Coming back to our verse in 2 Timothy 1:7, what spirit did God give us that will help us overcome the spirit of fear.
He gave us three: Power, Love and Sound Judgement and personal discipline or of a sound mind as some Bible versions say.
Where do they come from and how do we receive them? They come from the Father to the Son and to us by the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-17 (NLT)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
John 16:12-15 (AMP)
12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. 14 He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.
Let’s examine these three ways to overcome the spirit of fear, Power, Love and Sound Judgement and personal discipline, individually and in more detail.
The spirit of power
The Holy Spirit is the power of God. He is the power of God at the beginning of creation. He is the power of God that created all things through and for Christ Jesus who is the Word of God.
Genesis 1:1-2 (NIV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
John 1:1-4 (NIV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
The Holy Spirit is the power that resurrected our Lord Jesus from the dead, and He is the power of God that will give us our resurrected bodies.
Romans 8:11 (NIV)
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because o] his Spirit who lives in you.
He is the power that helps us overcome the evil one and gives us victory in Christ Jesus. He is the power that when God spoke, He created everything through Jesus and for Jesus.
He is the power that came at Pentecost in tongues of flame and a mighty wind. He is the power that brings miracles, signs and wonders in the Church.
Acts 1:8b (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
Acts 2:2-4 (NIV)
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
This is the spirit of power that we receive when we are in Christ Jesus. The spirit of fear is from the Devil who has no rights over us unless we invite him into our lives through sin, disobedience to the Word, unforgiveness, pride, bitterness or any other acts of the flesh.
Fear is a mindset that is sewn in our minds by the lies of Satan! Take every thought captive and kick out those that are evil before you put them into sinful action! Fight evil in the power of the Holy Spirit!
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (AMP)
3 For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. 4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.
The power we receive from the Holy Spirit is linked to the authority that Jesus gives to us as His disciples.
Matthew 10:1 (AMP)
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
If the disciples at the time had not taken up this authority and had succumbed to fear, there is no way they could have used the authority they had been given and they would have been ineffective in the world.
It is the same for us today – we need to appropriate the power and authority that we have in Christ Jesus. When we do this, we will bring glory to His name and we can effectively change the world to His glory!
Fear strips us of the power we, as the Church, have been given. It strips us of the authority Jesus has given us as sons and daughters of God. We have been given the authority to go and preach and do the things Jesus did in freedom!
Fear will close your hands and your minds to the power you have been given in Christ Jesus.
The enemy does not want us to understand the power we have. He will use fear to strip us of our authority. We become so preoccupied with a sense of worthlessness, failure, false humility and everything else we say about ourselves that we can’t accept the authority that has been “freely given” to us.
God wants us free from fear and operating in the spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. This is our inheritance in Christ Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit!
To be effective servants of the Lord, the true believer cannot operate in human strength and power but only in that supernatural power of the Holy Spirit – the power that is beyond all human understanding! The power that comes to us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is Jesus that baptizes us with the Holy Spirit!
The spirit of love
The perfect love of God casts out all fear!
Fear strips us of the power we, as the Church, have been given. It strips us of the authority Jesus has given us as sons and daughters of God. We have been given the authority to go and preach and do the things Jesus did in freedom!
Matthew 10:7-8 (AMP)
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
John 14:12 (NIV)
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Fear will close your hands and your minds to the power you have been given in Christ Jesus.
The enemy does not want us to understand the power we have. He will use fear to strip us of our authority. We become so preoccupied with a sense of worthlessness, failure, false humility and everything else we say about ourselves that we can’t accept the authority that has been “freely given” to us.
God wants us free from fear and operating in the spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. This is our inheritance in Christ Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit!
To be effective servants of the Lord, the true believer cannot operate in human strength and power but only in that supernatural power of the Holy Spirit – the power that is beyond all human understanding! The power that comes to us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. It is Jesus that baptizes us with the Holy Spirit!
John 1:33 (NIV)
And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
The perfect love of God casts out all fear!
Romans 8:37-39 (AMP)
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When we repent and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour (being born-again) we have assurance that God lives in us and that His love is always with us. In God’s love there is no fear because His love is perfect and perfect love drives out all fear!
1 John 4:15-18 (NIV)
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
When we are living in God’s love by living life in the Spirit, we have assurance that we live in His full protection for when God is for us who can be against us?
Romans 8:31 (NIV)
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
The devil is a corrupter of purity whenever he gets the chance, if we look at the way the ‘world’ loves today we will see that it is self-serving and controlling and full of insecurity – it wants something in return. This is the total opposite to the pure agape love of God, the love that gives us complete freedom and expects nothing in return.
One of the ways fear manifests in carnal love is through control. We try to control others because we ourselves are fearful. Our relationships suffer due to fear and insecurities. It can manifest through jealousy, anger, selfishness – and many other ways, all of which are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
However, when fear is removed, we can operate in the spirit of love – God’s agape love. We have the ability to love the unlovable. We can love our enemies. We can love those that do not show grace. When we are free from fear, we can love as we are loved by the One who loves perfectly.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.
The Spirit of a sound mind
What is a sound mind? The mind that is governed by the Holy Spirit and not by the flesh, the sinful nature. When we let the Holy Spirit control our minds and not our sinful nature, we will live a life of peace in Christ Jesus no matter what storms we are going through or are surrounded by. The mind governed by the Holy Spirit has nothing to fear!
Romans 8:5-8 (NLT)
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
When we are living life in the Spirit (Romans 8) we have the mind of Christ so that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can be instructed by Jesus.
1 Corinthians 2:15-19 (AMP)
15 But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer’s spiritual nature]. 16 For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].
Colossians 3:1-2 (AMP)
Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].
The spirit of self-control (one of the facets of the fruit of the Spirit) gives us the ability to maintain the internal environment of our hearts. It gives us the ability to respond to situations as opposed to reacting to situations. The fruit of the Spirit are manifest in and through us when we are walking in the Spirit. This is how we bring glory to the name of Jesus!
The Apostle James tells us how we can exercise self-control which comes from having a sound mind. The spiritual man is a doer and not just a reader of God’s Word. He is a man that is obedient and compliant with God’s Word in every way! We are thus overcomers in Christ Jesus including the ability to overcome fear!
James 1:19-22 (AMP)
19 Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving]; 20 for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us]. 21 So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].
As I said before, fear manifests itself in control. When we attempt to control others, it is damaging to them and those around them. However, when we operate in a spirit of self-control, we are only concerned with managing our own hearts. When we do this then the fruit of the Spirit is able to be manifest in us and through us and we become perfect in His love and thus fear is driven out.
Galatians 5:22-23a (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
Because we are born-again in Christ Jesus, we have the right to call ourselves the children of God and thus become co-heirs with Christ of all that God has for us.
Romans 8:14-17 (NIV)
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Are you living under a spirit of fear or living as a child of God?
Prayer:
Dear Father in Heaven
I ask you to forgive me for living under a spirit of fear and I ask that you deliver me from all fear. I repent before you now Father and turn away from all fear that is destructive to myself and to others. I pray Father in Jesus’ name that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to embrace the spirit you have given me as your son/daughter in Christ Jesus, the spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. Help me, Lord, to live my life in the spirit always, that I may glorify the name of Jesus in all I do, in all I say and in all of my actions. Amen.
To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!
Jesus, the Name above all names!
Remember: Reading this article is no substitute for reading and studying the Bible for yourself! I am flawed the Bible is not!
Last updated: 2 September 2022.
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