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The Spirit of Fear

2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."-NKJV

Is it me, or does the celebration of Halloween get bigger and bigger every year? I can remember when you didn't start to see Halloween items until October but now you've got Halloween Adventure stores popping up in August. Everywhere you turn there's masks, scarecrows, ghosts, ghouls, witches, haunted hay rides, haunted houses...even at a strip mall near me has had a good portion of their parking lot taken over by an elaborate "haunted" display. Why such a focus on this holiday? The motive may be more ulterior than you think.

If you look on the Internet there are many conflicting stories about the origin of the celebration. Some sites link you to a celebration that takes place in Latin American called the Day of the Dead where by the "spirits" of people who have passed away are honored. On this day it is thought that the spirits return so people put out food for them to receive. Another site notes the Festival of Samhain (Lord of the Dead). The same custom is mirrored with the anticipation of consequences for lack of an "offering". Can you say "Trick or Treat?" Still think this is an innocent children's holiday? For arguments sake, let's say this was not the original intent of the holiday. The parallels are purely...coincidental. (Yeah, right!)

If we hold the bible as the absolute authority on the truth of God regarding the issues of life, we can gain a different perspective. In the passage above we can see a few things just by observation. The first thing to note is that fear is spiritual. The word spirit is defined as, "the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of any one; the efficient source of any power, affection, emotion, desire, etc." Fear, like joy and anger, is an emotion that registers in our spirit. When you are happy or experiencing joy, the euphoric feeling registers on the inside and the outward projection is a smile. In the same vein, when you are afraid it registers deep on the inside as well and it also has an outward manifestation.

The next thing to note is that God didn't give us this spirit. Looking at the root for the word, whenever you come across the instruction to "fear your God" in the Old Testament as in Leviticus 19:32, it is the Hebrew word "yare'" which translates to, "reverence; to stand in awe of, be awed; honor, respect." However, in 2 Timothy, fear is the Greek word "deilia" which

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