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Put aside fear, focus on love "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." I John 4:18 As I was praying this morning, I was asking the Lord to make me fruitful for Him as well as praying for our church that we would all be fruitful for Him. I had a somewhat troubling thought; the thought was "What keeps Christians and churches from being fruitful for the Lord who calls them to be that way?" I know I can't speak for everyone, so I asked in prayer, "what keeps me from being more fruitful for Christ?" As I prayed, I realized for me the biggest barrier to me being used by God in many and most situations came down to one word - fear. I then thought of the talks I have had with church people over the years where I saw God wanted to use them and I was encouraging them to take the next step. I thought of the times people had told me "no," and realized the reasons that usually followed the "no" had to do with that same little word, fear. You may be wondering what types of fear am I thinking of. I am thinking of things like the fear of failure; will I look stupid if I don't succeed? Or fear of rejection; how will I handle it if I hurt someone's feelings? Or even fear of incompetence; how will I handle it if this proves to be too much for my abilities? God calls us, in I John 4:18, not to focus on our fears but what should be motivating you and me-love.
If you teach the class because you love the students or make the call because you love the person; then you can leave the results up to God. Instead of thinking in terms of what we can't do or are afraid to do, let's ask God who does He want each of us to show love to. You will be amazed at how this change in thinking breaks your fears.
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