Life as a human pet …

I was reading through my Twitter stream yesterday when I was struck by a phrase in one of the tweets: “pet fear.”

I’ve had two kinds of “pets” in my life. I’ve had a great quarterhorse I owned as a kid for a short time, and I’ve had several dogs.

I love dogs. I’ve had Golden Retrievers, a Black Lab, a Beagle/Shepherd mix, a Collie, an Australian Shepherd, a Chow, and a few others.

One thing each of my pets had in common was that they brought me great joy. Interacting with them was fun and it enriched my life.

On the other hand, I’ve never had a fear that brought me joy. I’ve never had a fear that enriched my life. I’ve never had a fear worth keeping!

Yet, many people carry around the same fears for years or decades, as if it were a “pet.” It doesn’t bring them joy, it doesn’t make their lives richer, but they fail to give up their fears.

Sometimes, we carry certain fears with us so long, we’re actually afraid of what life would be like without them! We’ve become so accustomed to the boundaries and limitations the fears have created that we’re afraid of expanding beyond them. We allow the fears to establish the boundaries of our capacity, thus we create a need for the fears to provide us with our excuses for limiting ourselves.

The problem is, fear will always draw a boundary far short of God’s will for you!

When our fears become as familiar to us as though they were our pets, it’s the fears that have become our master.

Jesus wanted us to turn that around. He understood for us to become everything He wants us to be, we have to get rid of fear, especially our “pet fears.” Jesus said in John 14:27, “I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

Instead of a life lived on the leash of our fears, Jesus calls us to a life with a heart that is untroubled and free of fear. Even more, He enables us to face and overcome our fears by the gifts He gives:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” 2 Timothy 1:7.

Through Christ, we have the ability to master our fears and free ourselves of them. Any fears that remain are stubborn “pets” we need to see as limiting to our lives rather than finding a false sense of comfort in them.

What are you doing with your fears: feeding them as pets, or freeing yourself of them?

Scotty