Is being afraid a sin?
October 6 - 12, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Fear Week 2
The idea of Fear comes up in the Bible a lot, so God must have a pretty strong opinion about it.
That’s fair to say, and I guess it’s true. God has a lot to say about fear, but it may not always be what we would expect.
Maybe it’s the environment where I was raised, but when I think God has a strong opinion about something, that means it’s always negative. God’s strong feelings about something must mean that He doesn’t want us to have anything to do with them.
Hiding from people who might hurt you, running away from a challenge, not standing up for Jesus—all of those things are bad, right? And when we do those things because we are afraid, we must be wrong. When we act because of our fear, it has to mean that we sinning.
Logically, that tells us that fear itself must be a sin. Right?
Well, questions like that make me very glad that we don’t base our faith on human reasoning. Because, yes, if human reasoning were how we made our decisions, we would agree: Fear is a sin. God says not to fear, and we do it anyway. That’s the classic definition of sin.
God told people not to be afraid over and over throughout the Book of Genesis. It feels like every other chapter, God is telling them not to be afraid of Him. Actually the phrase “fear not” is scattered all over the Bible (we’ll talk about that in more detail later). So it would make sense just in reading the first book of the Bible that fear would be considered sinful.
But how does that make sense then when you get deeper into Scripture, and people are instructed consistently to be afraid of God? Is that a contradiction? How does it work to not be afraid but to be afraid at the same time?
Well, let’s cut to the chase. No, fear isn’t a sin.
Fear is like anger. It’s an emotion, and emotions are neutral. It’s what we do in response to our emotions that can be sinful or godly. It depends on our choices. But what about the whole “be afraid” versus “don’t be afraid” conundrum? How can we make sense of that?
Well, this week we’re going to clear some of that up by looking at what God says about fear, who throughout Scripture struggled with it, and what God says about those of us who feel it.
Monday – Why so many “fear nots”? (Isaiah 6:2)
Tuesday – What is a “spirit of fear”? (1 John 4:18)
Wednesday – Are demons afraid? (James 2:19)
Thursday – Hiding from God (Genesis 3:10)
Friday – Misunderstanding God (Luke 19:21)
How do I know that fear isn’t sinful? Well, check out our memory verse for this week, Psalm 34:9.
God point blank tells us to be afraid. God’s directions are to fear Him. Later this month we’ll get into some specifics about the meaning and connotation of the word fear, but for now, let’s just take a very simple approach to this concept.
The Bible tells us that those of us who fear the Lord will have all they need. That’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it?
First of all, we can know that fear on its own isn’t sinful because God is telling us to do it. God never commands us to sin. He never even tempts us to sin. So fear—or at least this type of fear—can’t be sinful.
Secondly, those who fear God will be provided for. They will have all they need. This is a promise from God to His people that if His people fear Him, He will take care of their needs.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be interested in having God take care of my needs. That would be nice. So I guess the question isn’t if fear is sinful; the question is am I willing to fear God more than anyone or anything else in my life?
What about you?
Let’s talk about it this week.
Hugs!
Amy
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