Build NOTHING out of fear.
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment."
- 1 John 4:18a (King James Version)
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"Build nothing out of fear. Build only from & fueled by love."
This word has been floating in my spirit since working on my company's vision last week. I had a fear reflex that went like: "because I'm afraid that [this thing] will happen, I'm gonna build [this] to combat the [thing I'm afraid of.]" Later, in my quiet time I sensed God telling me these words and I immediately made a note in our company culture that we will always build from a place of love, never from a fear of persecution or whatever else might come to oppose our mission.
This word came up again a few days later while talking to a close friend of mine. She had just spent an hour building a new offer in her business that she didn't really even want to do—all, at the end of the day, because of fear of impending financial ruin. I shared this word with her and it hit her like a ton of bricks. I encouraged her to spend another hour working only from a place of love and faith and to see what she came up with & it energized her in a fresh and beautiful way. So much so that I knew I had to share this with you today too.
So, as I prayed this morning about what scripture I could share that supports this word, a few came to me.
First, where Job lamented that "the thing I feared has overwhelmed me, what I dreaded has happened to me." (Job 3:24 CJB) And how one could argue that his actions done out of fear (Job 1:4-5) opened the door to the enemy to bring the EXACT thing into his life that he was afraid of 😳
Also when Saul was afraid of the people and, out of that fear, did what the people told Him to do instead of what God had requested and it cost him his leadership position (1 Samuel 15) 😬
But the one that hit me the hardest was this:
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment." - 1 John 4:18a (King James Version)
If there is no other Bible-adjacent reason not to build out of fear, this right here is enough! Fear comes with torment (another word for "torment" is "torture"). What you build from a space of fear opens the door to torment in your life, your business, your team, etc. And why would you torture yourself?
Ultimately, just having the fear alone can be torturous enough (hello anxiety 🙃) but when we then put actions behind it? Job & Saul teach us that it doesn't end up well. The same way our actions of faith produce fruit, our actions of fear produce fruit too. And I don't know about you but I don't want no fear fruit! Even if the actions SEEM right, like in Job's case, they can still be an open door to fruit that poisons what we're building in our lives & businesses. This is just a call to check your motivations. Love is always the most sober & trustworthy mental space to build from.
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Still hungry? Eat some more //
- 1 John 4:18 (PHILLIPS) → Read it in this translation cuz whew. This is a whole 'nother sermon by itself! Just about the correlation between fear & guilt and how fully realizing the depth of God's love toward us by default casts all that out. Whew! So good! If you've been wrestling with anxiety lately [First Name], I encourage you to spend some time meditating on God's love this week.