A HEALTHY DOSE OF FEAR
Kimberly Lawrence
Today’s Scripture: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15, ESV
Theme: The greatest evidence of fear of God is obedience and love.
FOLLOWING RULES
I grew up in a conservative household. It was not necessarily a Christian home where rules and guidance were rooted in biblical principles, but my parents held high standards for behavior and consequence.
They may not have considered Proverbs 13:24 as their inspiration, but they certainly subscribed to some version of “spare the rod, spoil the child.” The threat of the principal’s office at school was far less worrisome than facing my parents at home. My sister and I had different motivations for obedience. I was an extremely sensitive child. The mere mention of my conduct as being disappointing or embarrassing to my parents sent me into a puddle of tears. My sister, on the other hand, had a much greater (and justified) fear of the negative consequences of misbehavior.
In either case, we each were motivated to follow the clearly defined rules. My parents weren’t unreasonable, and the guidance they provided was always for our well-being (whether we believed that at the time or not). I recall that my father once said, “If you want a different outcome, make a different choice.” What I hoped for, instead, was for the rules to change. I wanted to do what I wanted to do…without consequence…but that just wasn’t how it worked in his house.
THE RULES DON’T BEND
It is remarkable how accurately 2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes our current worldly culture: “...lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving, treacherous, reckless, conceited and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...” (ESV). These are not exactly complimentary attributes, yet they may be evident in our lives today. We often want to live for ourselves, and we want it to be “okay” with God. But He does not change the rules to suit us. Instead, we are called to change our behavior out of obedience, love, and fear of Him. Just like my earthly father, God established His guidance for me because He loves me and knows what is best for me. When I live with a disregard for that, He still loves me, but there are consequences.
MOTIVATE CHANGE
If we call ourselves Christians but act in a way that is contrary to God’s calling, we are being disobedient. If we truly fear a just God, that fear should motivate us to change our ways to follow His way. No change shows evidence of no fear. No fear shows evidence of no true belief. To grow in our faith and our relationship with God, we MUST believe He wants what is best for us. While we can’t earn salvation, as maturing Christians we should want to please Him; not just hope he “changes the rules” so we can continue living like non-believers until Sunday morning church service. We know God loves us unconditionally and He was clear…He wants the same from us…to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Deuteronomy 6:5 and Luke 10:27).
Make It Personal: As you inventory your life choices, where do you need to make changes to demonstrate your love and obedience for God? Are you living out your Christian faith? Is the evidence visible throughout your life? Or are you waiting for God to be “flexible” on some of the rules that you don’t believe are really that important? Join me in praying for any needed life change.
Pray: God, Your ways are ALWAYS better than mine. Change is hard, but You can give me the power to break unhealthy habits. Give me the wisdom to acknowledge the areas of my life that don’t reflect my faith, and the power to make difficult but needed changes. Please convict me when I make excuses, instead, call me back to Your ways. Please forgive me for the selfish way I am living. I love You and I want to live a life that is pleasing to You.
Read: James 1:21-26; Romans 2:13; Philippians 2:12-18
Weekly Memory Verse: “Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God to restrain them.” Psalm 36:1, NLT