Choose Life, Not Fear: Embracing the Narrow Gate of God’s Perfect Love
- Lee Young
- Jun 12, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 12, 2025
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
We have been given a choice.
He spoke long ago, saying that each day He has given us the autonomy to choose what we want: life or death. This is not life and death in the physical sense, but spiritual. We can choose to operate in the spirit of death or the spirit of life. This choice manifests continually throughout each day of our lives. This choice does not exist outside of our mind and body, but within.
We cannot control the events of the day. Many issues come at us that we never would have chosen. Nevertheless, we have a choice to respond to these with life or death.
Both life and death exist within us as followers of Jesus Christ. We have inherited death from Adam. The Bible says the sting of death is sin, so each time we sin, we are reminded that the spirit of death resides within us. But we also, from the time we put our faith in Jesus Christ, have been given the Holy Spirit. He also resides within. In each moment, we can choose which spirit we draw upon to form our thoughts, words, and behaviors.
There are many ways to look at this choice, but one way, from Scripture, is to put life and death into terms of perfect love and fear. When we choose to respond to this world out of our awareness of God’s perfect love, then we have confidence that the nature of His love for us is compelled to use each moment to help us by strengthening our faith and increasing our wisdom. Or we can respond as if we do not have perfect love, which will leave us fearful of what might happen. We will then shrink back in anxiety or move into an overbearing personality.
Life or death, perfect love or fear: these are our choices. The more we choose life and perfect love, the more death and fear are driven out. Then, we walk in the assurance of our God’s power, love, and promises. The same is true in the opposite direction. Acting out of fear pushes away God’s love.
Today, you have a choice—life or death, blessings or curses, perfect love or fear. And God’s plea is that we will choose life today and every day.
Prayer: Lord, help me to pause when difficult moments suddenly appear in my day to force my mind to remember Your perfect love so fear is driven out of me. Amen.
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