When you are getting ready to enter the battle, when you are entering a situation where you do not know if you will return alive again, what thoughts crowd your mind? How do you overcome fear so that you can do the right thing? Fear has caused many to turn from battle, from their comrades, from their country. Fear also keeps us from living. It causes us to protect ourselves at all costs.
So, what it the opposite of fear? What will help us overcome fear so that we remain strong in the battle, so that we do the right thing?
What are the thoughts of one going into battle? They think of their loved ones. They often write last messages of love to their spouses, kids, or parents. When they are done thinking of loved ones, they turn their thoughts to the men and women they fight with. How they will stand firm to protect and fight shoulder to shoulder with their comrades.
To overcome fear, one must put aside his/her own life and serve another. The opposite of fear is love. 1 John 4:18 states, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” To cast out fear, one must put aside his/her own life and focus on their actions benefiting others. This is what Jesus did for us. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Jesus tells the crowd following Him, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). He also says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). So, to follow in the way of Jesus, we must deny ourselves, putting ourselves to death, and follow Jesus by loving others just as He loved us.
Overcoming fear comes through the same process as following Jesus on a daily basis. We must:
1. Put aside our own lives, because Christ loves us and purchased us with His death.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20
2. Through love, serve one another.
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Galatians 5:13-14
