Fear

You know a lot of times I think the world lives in fear, in fear of many things; debt, losing a friend, pain, disease, and death to name a few. A website had this as a definition of fear.

"An unpleasant emotion caused by being aware of danger."

However I don't really think that is a sufficient or really good definition. I think that a better definition of fear would be; An unpleasant emotion of worry or terror caused by a possible unpleasant result. If you think about it one of the main reasons we fear debt, losing a friend, pain, disease, death, etc is because each one of those things causes pain or unfavorable results.

Now there are a bunch of different types of fear, excessive, irrational, worrisome, beneficial, and rational. Now I think that each of the listed types of fear above really aren't types of fear. If they aren't types of fear what are they? They are the results and extension of original fear. These different "types" of fear are just a result of how you react to fear and danger. One of the reasons you may have excessive fear is because you may be a worrier. Irrational fear is typically a fear caused by the anticipation of a possible occurrence created by your imagination. Worrisome fear is very closely related to excessive fear and is based off of your worries. Rational fear is pretty much the same as original fear and comes from a real threat to your life. Almost all the time fear is not good to have, but there are times when you can have beneficial fear. Beneficial fear is a warning of a high probability of danger. This fear can warn you when your about to do something stupid or when your close to a cliff edge.

One of the biggest fears for humanity because it is eminent and will happen to everyone is death. Death is a legitimate fear if you don't know God because you don't know what will happen. Do you just die, or do you live on in some sort of different universe, are you reincarnated, or what?  However, if we know Christ we need not fear death. Death has been defeated by the death and resurrection of Christ.

I know its kinda odd, but I actually look forward to dying. Its not because I want to end my life, but because I want to be with my God in heaven.

What fears can we get rid of? If we live in fear we live in a way as if we are paralyzed. We can give our fears over to God and let Him control our life. Are you going to let go of fear and worry so that you can live a profoundly freer life God intended for you instead of letting fear control your life?