Fear God Not Man


 “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

  • There is so much truth in this proverb! For the “fear of man” will most definitely “prove to be a snare”! When you fear what others think; or fear what they may say of you, that is a trap. When you live your life as a “people pleaser”, such as myself, you will never measure up; never be quite good enough. When you allow your fear of someone else’s opinion to determine how you act or respond to a given situation, you set yourself up for being controlled by them. You place yourself under their thumb so to speak. 
  • ‭‭‬‬But where does this fear come from? What is at its roots? For me, it is a fear of rejection. The fear of being disapproved of; of disappointing someone or of being told I’m wrong or just being selfish. This “fear of man” is straight from the pits of hell. Living in fear of others, or with a fear of rejection and need for approval is not the life Jesus came to give us. He reminds us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
  • ‭‭And in 2 Timothy 1:7 we are reminded, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
  • I love this verse from Galatians 1:10, ‭‭‬‬ “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” 
  • What this verse is saying to me is, if I’m going to be a “servant of Christ”, I need to be more concerned with loving and serving the Lord; doing what is pleasing to Him, not concerning myself with being a “people pleaser”. In being a “people pleaser” I’m setting myself up for failure because I will always do something that is displeasing to them! 
  • What a quandary! How foolish it is to fear others instead of trusting God! For as Jesus says in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” And who are we to judge anyway, or allow ourselves to come under someone else’s judgment, as Paul reminds in 1 Corinthians 4:3-5, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
  • ‭‭Instead of living in the fear of man, choose to trust God. Live in the freedom He gave you, make a choice; a decision, and right or wrong, let God alone be the judge. For He alone knows our hearts, our motivations. He will contend with those who contend with us(Isaiah 49:25). 

‭‭

Comments

  1. KateJuly 20, 2024 at 10:53 AM

    I heard a commentary by Max Lucado that said we are created to be a gift to the world and signed by God. I love thinking of each of us in that light.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everyone Has A Story

Image
My journey back to faith and relationship with Jesus Before becoming a member of Woodland Community Church, I hadn’t been in a church in over 25 years, I’d had enough of religion, I lived my life the way I wanted, it was all about me and getting my needs met anyway I could. There was no room for God. God, for me, was an entity that was impersonal; uninterested in me or my life. My view of God as a loving Father was non existent. I had no hope, no purpose; my life was meaningless, just existing from day to day. Then a fellow employee, where I was working at the time, asked me a question one day. “You do believe in God don’t you?” I’m sure, at that time, I gave my usual sarcastic response, but I couldn’t shake that question. I kept asking myself, “What do you believe?”. About that time there was a movie out called, “God’s Not Dead”, but being a reader, I decided to read the book instead of watch the movie. The take home message for me was, Jesus came, not to start a religion but that I m
Read more

What controls you?

Image
“Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬ What controls you? What are you allowing to rule over you? Is it an attitude? Behavior? Habit? What do you need to maintain control over? Anger? Resentment? Bitterness? Jealousy? Need for approval or praise?  In Genesis 4:3 it says, “…Cain brought an offering". What kind of offering? Was it the best of the fruit? Or was it the leftovers? Did Cain keep what he wanted for himself and give to the Lord what he knew he could do without? Was it really much of a sacrifice? The Bible doesn’t say, but God wasn’t pleased with His offering. God knew Cain’s heart. He knew his true motivation. But because his offering was rejected, Cain became angry which leads to verse seven where God says to Cain, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
Read more

Affliction Can Produce Fruit

Image
“The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”” Genesis‬ ‭41‬:‭52‬ ‭ESV‬‬ “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction”. How many times have I read that verse and never really thought about it? We all know the story of Joseph, and how God used him even in the midst of his struggles and difficult circumstances and brought about good. Can He do the same for us? For me? Can God make me fruitful in the “land of my affliction“? And what is the “land of affliction” we are in? This “land” will be different for everyone. We may not like the circumstances we’re currently experiencing. We may not like the trials that daily come our way. We may ask God how long we must endure? But what if, like Esther, we were “made for such a time as this”?(See Esther 4:14). What if I chose to believe the lesson Chuck Swindoll presented in a devotional reading I had, “I am here by God’s appointment”; I am in His keeping”; I am under His train
Read more