Fear, Love, and Trust the Lord above all else
Fear of the Lord can be a product of love.
As a child, I would fear my parents discipline for my misdeeds. This fear was not one of unjustified wrath, but of awareness that I deserved punishment for whatever I had done wrong.
That fear is born of love. The love of my parents toward me, wanting me to know that what they are punishing me for is something that I must learn from before I make it a habit that will harm me later. This fear is the same fear we should have of the Lord, that of a loving parent, not of wrath, but born of his love.
In his mercy, when he knows that we recognize our mistake and are truly repentant, he will sometimes step in and give us his grace. That grace is all the more precious to us BECAUSE we repent and recognize our need for Him to give us that grace. If we expect grace, but have no fear of lack of protection from our own misdeeds, then we are not showing love to God, but are using him as our own personal genie, "I want to do as I will, you must deal with me as I am and let me have what I want whenever I want it." That is a childish attitude to have. Instead, our relationship should be like a child recognizing that his parent will always care for him, but will allow him to suffer for some errors as a learning experience.
Thus, we serve out of love, because the fear is born through love as well.
Proverbs 3:11-12
God bless.
As a child, I would fear my parents discipline for my misdeeds. This fear was not one of unjustified wrath, but of awareness that I deserved punishment for whatever I had done wrong.
That fear is born of love. The love of my parents toward me, wanting me to know that what they are punishing me for is something that I must learn from before I make it a habit that will harm me later. This fear is the same fear we should have of the Lord, that of a loving parent, not of wrath, but born of his love.
In his mercy, when he knows that we recognize our mistake and are truly repentant, he will sometimes step in and give us his grace. That grace is all the more precious to us BECAUSE we repent and recognize our need for Him to give us that grace. If we expect grace, but have no fear of lack of protection from our own misdeeds, then we are not showing love to God, but are using him as our own personal genie, "I want to do as I will, you must deal with me as I am and let me have what I want whenever I want it." That is a childish attitude to have. Instead, our relationship should be like a child recognizing that his parent will always care for him, but will allow him to suffer for some errors as a learning experience.
Thus, we serve out of love, because the fear is born through love as well.
Proverbs 3:11-12
My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.Romans 6:1-4
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
God bless.
posted by Dancer | 12:50 AM
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