I never thought I’d have to fight so hard to put my faith into action. My belief in Jesus Christ, my faith is strong. But when Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6:12 to fight the good fight of faith, he uses action words like “fight,” “flee,” “take hold,” and “pursue.”

“Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” -1 Timothy 6:12

We can fight the good fight of faith by fleeing temptation, pursuing godliness, and sharing the Lord with others. I've grown up in a Christian home, but ever since I really began understanding and digging into the Word of God, I’ve had this strong passion to live a godly life. My biggest struggle has been grasping a hold of God’s promises and allowing His truth to move from my head down into the deepest places within my heart.

That is what I have to fight for.

It’s easy to read God’s word and know that He loves us unconditionally, but believing -- that’s a whole different ball game. And so, even though I have read and I completely understand that God has declared me saved by faith and not by my works (Ephesians 2:8-9), sometimes I still feel this feeling deep in the cracks and crevices of my soul, that somehow, I am still not worthy.

I’m just not enough.

So I tried to prove to myself that maybe I was worth it…by not messing up. Eventually I had become too afraid of failing, too afraid to take a risk, too afraid of not being like.

Fear is kinda like new growth from the roots of an old tree that’s been cut down. If we don’t take care of the roots, along with the bigger issue, they will continue to spread and sprout up in areas of our life where we do not want them to be. And I’ve come to believe that the root of fear and our insecurities is doubting God’s everlasting love for us by letting the devil dictate within our lives’. When God takes a hold of our hearts, our lives change forever. If we do not truly accept His love, fear is going to keep sprouting from the ground and spreading.

So, how do we get God’s love to reach our hearts?

Sometimes we have to help it along. Sometimes we just have to get up and prepare for the battle; we have to put on our armor.And fight.

Once we get to the point where we can start fighting the good fight of faith, we’ll begin to experience the grace of God and feel the power of His love working through our weakness personally.

When we experience God’s power and peace working within us, His love becomes very real and sustainable. We’ll not only feel the love we’ve known to be true, but we’ll get a taste of freedom from our chain-shackling fear. This is because the bible tells us that the truth will set us free. And it is the loving, all-powerful, living, ever present, and perfect presence of God that is the very truth waiting to set us free.

So what’s it going to take to fight our fear?

We’re going to have to wake up every single day and do everything in our power to take action and allow God’s truth to grab a hold of our hearts and live within us.

So, here are five steps that you can take to start fighting back against your own fear:

1. Determination.

Once we make the decision to change, it is vital that we have the determination it’s going to take to follow through with our choice and put it into action.

2. Prayer.

The bible says that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). He promises to answer us when we call to Him. Turn your fears and worries into prayers to overcome them. He will calm our anxious thoughts with the peace of His truth. Praise Him ahead of time for the answers your heart longs for. Praising Him, worshiping Him, is trusting His love by believing that He is going to answer you.

3. Memorizing Scripture.

I read that in order to form a habit it takes it 30 days. Take your fearful thoughts and replace them with the truth of God's word. Make it a habit. Do this everyday. It is imperative that we train our minds to think differently. You must first start by replacing fear with the truth.

4. Surround yourself with community of believers.

Battles are not meant to be fought alone.

In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5.

Carry each other's burdens and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:1.

God shows His love for us through other believers.

5. Action.

What is it that you're afraid of? Why? Are you afraid of failure? Rejection? The unknown?

Stop being afraid. We have the power of God on our side. He is our strength. We will always have His love!!!

Romans 8:28 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. It is not something we have to earn. We don't have to be enough. We never have tp worry about losing it.

Sure, we can make mistakes. We can fail. Others can dislike us. But, God's perfect love, His perfect love breaks through that darkness. He's going to forgive every sin. He knows we're not perfect, and that's why Jesus went to the cross. Striving to be perfect and striving to be like Christ are two different things. We strive for perfection because in order to make ourselves feel better. We strive to be holy because the love of God instills in us this passion that encourages us ti share it with others by reflecting His image.

We should continue to fight against our sinful nature, but rest in the fact that Jesus is enough. We can let the love of God pour into our hearts and take a hold of His grace. Nothing we do could ever makes us good enough because our sin has tainted even our best efforts. But, it's OK because the blood of Jesus Christ makes us perfectly clean through the eyes of God. And now we can approach His throne with confidence. That is His love pouring over us.

So, lets take hold of His grace and fight against fear together! One day we'll be able to say just what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:7 -- " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."