I've been thinking about what Christian people will say and do, right and wrong. Yet they profess and confess to be strong in their faith in Christ. And are suppose to stand for truth when in the company with those who lie, deceive and are in opposition to the things of God.
Many so-called Christians on their jobs, in their churches, families, and among their friends, will know a person has said or done something wrong. Yet, when faced with exposing the person, they refuse to do so out of FEAR. Fear of losing family members who side with the person who has done wrong, fear of losing friendships with other co-workers, and connection with church members who may get angry with him/her for confronting the wrong.
One begans to think, if he/she is the only one who sees the wrong, and no one else is speaking out. And am I the only one right in exposing what I see and know to be right or wrong?
Moses sent out twelve spies into the land to bring back a report of what they saw and found in the Promise Lland. Only two came back with a good report of courage Caleb and Joshua, and the other ten opposed and gave a negative report of fear, different from what the positive reported from Caleb and Joshua. All twelve saw the gaints in the land, but Caleb and Joshua saw more than that, and stood against the other ten, because they believed God and His Word.
We all have experienced fear. But do you think there is such a thing a healthy fear?...
I believe the only healthy fear is the fear of the Lord. And I am not just talking about reverence and awe, as the modern churches would have people believe. If you can read the Old Testament and not feel a real fear of our God, then you may want to read it again.
But, fear of man means you are not putting all your faith in God. He tells us over and over again that He will protect us, that no weapon formed shall prosper against us. All me have to do is put our trust in Him.
My personal belief is that fear is a natural emotion just like any other.
However, the fact that the Bible addresses this issue (numerous times) proves to me that God knew this is something that man would struggle with. To say that we should fear only the Lord seems very simple and to someone extremly grounded in their faith may be easy to do. I personally believe that God realized that this would be a life time worth of struggle as even the disciples feared things other than the Lord.
example:
One of the biggest fears humans naturally have is of death. I believe this is one of the many reasons Jesus chose to appear to Peter and Mary after his crusifiction and during his resurrection. He wanted to prove that those who truly believed could conquer even death.
I would also like to point out that just as we shouldn't allow fear of fellow man to dictate and control our lives God doesn't want our fear of him to dictate and control our relationship with him.
It is my belief that fear of God shoud result in the following:
1.) Proper use of Grace
2.) Fear of God should lead to the understanding of the concept of God's mercy.
I'm sure there are others, but those are the top two in my book!
