REALLIFE STUDY GROUP

"The Truth About Fear & Love!"

 

ICEBREAKER: What is the scariest TV show or movie you have ever seen? If you have never seen a program that you thought was scary, describe an event that caused you to have anxiety or fear.

 

INTRODUCTION:

The truth is that the lack of love in our society is impacting our world with all kinds of fear, anxiety, panic and fear related issues. It is costing us economically literally billions of dollars in health care bills every year in the United States alone.

Today we will explore the differences between fear verses love. We will attempt to define some of the attributes of fear based living. There are many accounts in the Bible where people had to deal with fear on some level. One account involves twelve Hebrew spies that were sent by Moses to spy out the promise land. Ten spies came back with a negative fearful report due to the giants they saw in the land. Two came back, because of their strong belief in their God, saying, we are well able to take the land. The choice is ours! Will we:

 

Forget

Everything

And

Run

 

or

 

Face

Everything

And

Rise?

 

 

CONFESSION: 

I am totally accepted and completely loved by my God.

I refuse to fear because my God is my redeemer.

 

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

I refuse to fear because my God is the equivalent to the requirement.

 

I am more than a conqueror

I refuse to fear because my God is the Mighty Warrior, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

 

I am an overcomer.

I refuse to fear because my God has never lost a battle!

 

DEFINITION:

Fear Based Living: A principle style of living that encompasses one's approach to life relationally, emotionally, economically, domestically and in every way driven by fear and anxiety.

 

STATISTICS:  Facts & Statistics: copied from http://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics

 

Did You Know?

·        Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population).

·        Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only about one-third of those suffering receive treatment.

·        Anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one-third of the country's $148 billion total mental health bill, according to "The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders," a study commissioned by ADAA (The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60(7), July 1999).

·        More than $22.84 billion of those costs are associated with the repeated use of health care services; people with anxiety disorders seek relief for symptoms that mimic physical illnesses.

·        People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than those who do not suffer from anxiety disorders.

·        Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.

 

Anxiety and Depression

·        It's not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to also suffer from depression or vice versa. Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

 

Facts: Anxiety and Stress-Related Disorders

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

·        GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population.

·        Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.

 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

·        2.2 million, 1.0%

·        Equally common among men and women.

·        The median age of onset is 19, with 25 percent of cases occurring by age 14. One-third of affected adults first experienced symptoms in childhood.

·        Hoarding is the compulsive purchasing, acquiring, searching, and saving of items that have little or no value.

 

Panic Disorder

·        6 million, 2.7%

·        Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.

·        Very high comorbidity rate with major depression.

 

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

·        7.7 million, 3.5%

·        Women are more likely to be affected than men.

·        Rape is the most likely trigger of PTSD: 65% of men and 45.9% of women who are raped will develop the disorder.

·        Childhood sexual abuse is a strong predictor of lifetime likelihood for developing PTSD.

 

Social Anxiety Disorder

·        15 million, 6.8%

·        Equally common among men and women, typically beginning around age 13.

·        According to a 2007 ADAA survey, 36% of people with social anxiety disorder report experiencing symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help.

 

Specific Phobias

·        19 million, 8.7%

·        Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.

 

Major Depressive Disorder

·        The leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.3

·        Affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.

·        While major depressive disorder can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32.5

·        More prevalent in women than in men.

 

Dysthymic Disorder (chronic, mild depression)

·        Symptoms must persist for at least two years in adults (one year in children) to meet criteria for the diagnosis.

·        Affects approximately 1.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. (about 3.3 million American adults).

·        The median age of onset is 31.1

 

Related Illnesses

·        Many people with an anxiety disorder also have a co-occurring disorder or physical illness, which can make their symptoms worse and recovery more difficult. It’s essential to be treated for both disorders.

 

OUTLINE: CHARACTERISTICS OF FEAR VERSUS LOVE

1.   FEAR COMES TO CAPITALIZE ON YOUR WEAKNESSES, LOVE COMES TO OPTIMIZE YOUR STRENGTHS                                                           

2.   FEAR COMES TO TERRORIZE, LOVE COMES TO ENERGIZE

3.   FEAR COMES TO SCANDALIZE, LOVE COMES TO "COMFORTIZE"

4.   FEAR COMES TO EXPOSE LOVE COMES TO COVER

5.   FEAR COMES TO PARALYZE,  LOVE COMES TO MOBILIZE

6.   FEAR COMES TO MINIMIZE, LOVE COMES TO MAXIMIZE

7.   FEAR COMES TO POLARIZE, LOVE COMES TO HARMONIZE

8.   FEAR COMES TO NEUTRALIZE, LOVE COMES TO DEPUTIZE, AUTHORIZE

9.   FEAR COMES TO ANTAGONIZE (struggle against) LOVE COMES TO SYMPATHIZE (suffer with)

 

FEAR BASED LIVING (This is the spirit that operated in Jezebel)

Effects of having a love deficit.

FEAR...

1.   Seeks to Control everything and everyone

Love protects while fear controls

Love frees while setting healthy boundaries. Fear just retrains and restricts

2.   Hoards anything and everything

Loves accumulates resources to distribute them while fear amasses and hides assets

3.   Destroys what it doesn't understand

4.   Denies what it cannot control

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. (Matthew 14:26 KJV)

5.   Slanders in an attempt to build itself up

6.   Alienates those who refuse to be controlled

7.   Defiles others to create alignments

8.   Responds by collapsing, hiding, fleeing or unfair fighting

 

TEXT:  1John 4; Hebrews 13

 

STUDY GROUP QUESTIONS:

1.  Why would God have to tell believers (Church People) to love one another? What is a practical way that Christian could show the world that we love one another and show that same love to the world for which Christ died?

2.  Pick a verse in 1 John 4 that jumps out at you and make a comment about it regarding fear or love.

3.  Describe one way that fear affects us physically.

4.  Identify someone in the Bible that had to face off with fear.

5.  Tell us a fear you have had to overcome in your life.

6.  Which of the characteristics of fear versus love listed above have you had to deal with?

 

PRAISE REPORTS & PRAYER REQUESTS:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

ACTION POINT: This week I will make faith declarations activated by love every day to counteract every fear in my life.