Love > Fear

Did you know you can actually replace fear with faith?

I didn't believe it either. I had been taught my whole life that faith is the antidote to a whole host of ills—fear being the most commonly mentioned. I struggled to wrap my head around such an abstract concept as faith until I internalized this life-changing verse of scripture—

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.

I've learned that love is the great motivator while fear is the great de-motivator. Love for Jesus Christ inspires faith in Him and motivates us to keep His commandments. Fear of the Lord causes us to question His divinity and our worth as His children. Love for our neighbors motivates us to serve and share truth with them. Fear of our fellow men causes us to withdraw from the world.

So the bad news is that fear is a real emotion with drastic, eternally negative consequences.

The good news is that love—a real action word and the primary manifestation of faith—is the antidote. If I'm feeling fear, all I need to do is love or serve somebody and that awful feeling will vanish.

That's my two cents. Here's yours—

• Rian: Singing a hymn helps...and prayer. Sometimes I'm pretty sure that I don't overcome my fears; Heavenly Father just helps me ignore them for a while
• Andrew: Every fear is just a diluted version of the irrational fear of dying that permeates most of our conciousnesses. If you can remove the fear of dying there's nothing else to be afraid. And why should we be afraid to die? Exactly—no good reason at all
• Emma: I overcame my fear by praying. God helps us overcome our fears by giving us peace. Fear is what the devil instills in us. God replaces our fear with FAITH!
• Sue: Our place here on Earth is to share the gospel and to lift one another up, and the best way for me to overcome a fearful situation is through prayer, fasting and the study of scripture. I often use my Bible Dictionary or Topical Guide to reference scriptures pertaining to my concerns and then exercise faith through prayer and obedience to receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I have been blessed with such an amazing peace that I know could only come from the Spirit.

MORE ONLINE

Live by Faith and Not by Fear, Elder Quentin L. Cook

Do Not Fear, President Boyd K. Packer

Fear, Bible Dictionary