Blog of the Week - 10/26/2025

Fear has a way of feeling reasonable. It borrows evidence from our senses, points to hard memories, and declares our limits to be laws. Pastor Reggie frames fear not as a random sensation but as a thief that targets three essentials named in 2 Timothy 1:7: power, love, and a sound mind. Power is our God‑given capacity to spark change. Love is our secure grounding in God’s heart toward us. A sound mind is our disciplined, peace‑anchored judgment. When fear dominates, it disconnects us from power, distorts love into doubt, and scatters the mind into impulsive reactions. The alternative is not denial but faith: a patterned way of living that sets boundaries by God’s Word rather than by past pain or present optics.

Clarifying the difference between fear and anxiety helps us fight wisely. Fear responds to a present, traceable threat; anxiety inflates future what‑ifs. Both are human, but neither has to rule our choices. Scripture redirects our expectations: fear anticipates evil, faith anticipates good. That shift is more than positive thinking; it is a theological reset from self‑reliance to Christ‑reliance. We are invited to weigh God’s promises against our triggers and choose which will set the perimeter of our lives. Walk by faith, not by sight, means we establish boundaries by what God has said, not only by what our senses say. It’s a daily practice of taking thoughts captive, asking who sent them, and reframing them under grace.

Mature love casts out fear because love settles the bigger question: Are we alone and unsupported? No. Love says God is with us in the valley, not just on the mountaintop. That presence reframes risk. Self‑discipline grows from a sound mind anchored in truth; we act from conviction, not from mood spikes. Obedience carries reward, not as a vending machine but as alignment with reality. Correction is not rejection; it is love steering us back toward life. Many of us universalize trauma, painting with a broad brush so that one pattern becomes every outcome. Faith narrows the brushstroke: treat the event in context, refuse its jurisdiction over the future, and replace low expectations with hope-filled plans.

Grace is divine enablement. When we step forward by faith, we move from personal limitation into God’s sufficiency. That does not erase our past; it redeems it. We can acknowledge triggers without bowing to condemnation. The enemy fixates us on self, on flaws and history. The gospel fixes us on Christ—what he has done, what he is making available now, and how the Spirit strengthens weak places. Practically, speak Scripture aloud, guard your thought life, and choose community language: from I to we. Expect good because God is good. Name the fear, challenge its claim, and act in small faithful steps. Power returns as you use it, love steadies as you receive it, and a sound mind grows as you practice it. That is how fear loses its grip and freedom takes root.