Fear No Fear

“Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, MEV). Jesus is supposed to be the Lord of our lives. A Lord is someone who has sovereign control over us. That doesn’t mean He forces you to do what you do not want – that’s a robot or a slave. It means that He sets the standards and you act within the boundaries of those standards because you have CHOSEN to submit yourself to His will. That means that we should be able to glorify Him. He is worthy of glory (Revelation 4:11) simply by being Himself. One of the ways you can glorify Him is manifesting your acceptance of His values. We do that by acting in accordance with His will in every single way that we can. Jesus did it (John 5:19; 12:49; 14:31). We can do it to (1 John 2:6; Ephesians 5:1-2). One way we can renew our mind to that is to say (out loud or silently) ‘I am going to _______ for the glory of God’ (putting into the blank whatever it is you are going to do). It doesn’t matter if it is a simple thing, a complicated thing, or an intimate thing. If you are doing something that is godly, something that He created for you to do, then there won’t be a problem. If, however, you are doing something that you know He doesn’t approve of, something you know will harm you, something you have learned is detrimental or unclean morally (by HIS standards), then you will find yourself considering it again. Or refusing to do it. Remember, just because something exists or is possible, doesn’t mean you should do it (1 Corinthians 10:23). Everything we do should be an act, word, or thought of praise to the Lord. It’s about time we started doing that with intent in EVERY area of our lives. Without excuse, without justifying it, just looking inside ourselves and asking Holy Spirit who lives there if we can – in good conscience – glorify the Lord with this word, thought, or action. When we praise purposefully in everything we do – no matter what arena of life it is in – we can start living lives of abundant joy that don’t rely on our FEELINGS but on the atmosphere of bringing Glory to God that we strive for. We won’t be perfect at it, but every moment we manage is a victory for Him.