“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
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Bible Verses About Fear & Courage
"Fear not" is the most repeated command in the Bible. God says it because He knows our tendency toward fear — and He has an answer for every one of our fears.
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“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
“Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption.”
Theological Context
The phrase "fear not" or "do not be afraid" appears over 365 times in Scripture — one for every day of the year. This is no coincidence. God's consistent message across both Testaments is that fear is a natural human response, but it does not have to be our master.
Joshua 1:9 is God's commission to a man facing an impossible task: crossing the Jordan, conquering Canaan, filling Moses' shoes. The command "be strong and courageous" is given three times in the same chapter — not because Joshua needed to manufacture courage from within, but because the source of that courage is external: "for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." The courage is a response to the promise, not a condition for it.
2 Timothy 1:7 gives us the pneumatological key to fear: "God hath not given us the spirit of fear." The word translated "fear" here (deilia) means cowardice or timidity — a spirit of withdrawal. This is the opposite of the Spirit of adoption in Romans 8:15, by which we cry "Abba, Father." Charismatic theology emphasizes this: fear as a spiritual force can be displaced by a greater spiritual reality — the intimate, confident relationship with God that the Spirit creates.
Commentary is from a charismatic Protestant perspective, drawing on KJV text and public-domain sources including Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Matthew Henry.
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