The Lie of Fear

Caring at all what people think is exhausting. Trying to protect or manage everyone’s perceptions of you won’t work. I know, I tried. 

Fear is not usually isolated to just one thing; it tends to penetrate to other areas of life.

For me, it felt like I was being intensely harassed and bullied and I couldn’t escape. 

Fear made me feel as though I was in the prison of my very own soul. 

The fear I was dealing with was of the devil. I constantly wondered what he would try next and if I would ever break free. I thought he had the power to kill me—and that he was going to. 

But then I learned the devil only has the power we give him. He is indeed real and can torment and harass us. But only when we buy into his lies do we give him major power in our lives.

At points in my journey, I almost thought more about the devil than I did about God. I actually believed for a long part of my Christian walk—especially after moving to Los Angeles—that the devil was more powerful than God. I can’t even explain the terror and destruction that lie will cause in your life.

What Scripture confirms about the devil is that he is the father of lies (See John 8:44). We get the free will to either agree with what he is saying about us or what God is saying about us. 

Fear is most often just a lie, a distraction, an attack on our ability to trust God. Plus we know we were not given a Spirit of Fear from God, Scripture confirms in 2 Timothy 1:7

Scriptures

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 ESV

Discussion Question

What lies have you had to fight in your life?