Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10:31 (emphasis added)

Once we are looking at things of heaven more than things of earth, we have a choice to make. Do we try and keep it all hidden or are we willing to be honest and open in front of others? If that doesn’t seem like a hard question, consider what you would be more willing to do: travel to another city and tell people about Jesus or go to your neighbourhood and tell people about Jesus? Most of us would pick another city. It’s easy to spread the Word or stand up for something we believe far away from those who know us. It’s harder to witness to those who are close to us because they see us almost daily and we have to look at them after we’ve spoken. Whether that means we feel embarrassed over what things we do or whether that means we’re bummed we have to walk what we talk to be effective, I don’t know. Maybe a little of both? It’s easier to take a stance on politics or how we raise our kids than it is to stand on a moral issue. It’s even easier if the moral issue we’re standing on isn’t because of morals.

Without commentary, take abortion as an example. You could stand for or against it because of free choice for women, consequences of rape, medical emergencies, or protection of life from conception because you’re defending those who cannot defend themselves. All those have many talking points many different people in the world would support. But be for/against abortion on a purely moral platform (that it is either right or wrong because of morality because of a standard of RIGHTEOUSNESS) and we tend to keep our mouths shut. Usually because the barrage of comments that would be flung at us. As human beings, it’s okay to say something for a worldly reason but not for a moral reason.

People love to say morals are fluid. That they are a product of your upbringing/environment. That not everyone ‘feels’ that way. That although there are some things people as a whole can agree on, many things most feel are horrific are okay in some other societies (like cannibalism). Professionals love to talk about personal perspective and perception. That something can be ‘true’ if it seems true to you even if others don’t perceive it the same way (say believing you have terrible and abusive parents who in fact are simply forcing you to go to school or miss out on a party for family game night). As a whole we also like to say that while group A might believe something, groups B and C don’t and they are just as valid as group A so everyone needs to give everyone else space. This becomes a huge issue if group A believes homosexuality is so wrong that they won’t provide a wedding cake to a homosexual couple in group B even though they run an open to the general public bakery. When it comes to morality and moral conduct, not everyone agrees. So what to do?

Before you even approach this issue, you have to realise something. Feelings aren’t real. Emotions are real. Emotions are a response to stimuli and include feelings. But emotions are also above feelings in that they can be programmed by our spirit. By our mind. By how we have been taught. Feelings are simply data. They are input sensations. They are not emotions. They are the same category as touch, sight, and smell. Something is cold because you touch it and feel the absence of warmth. Somewhere is dark because you experience the absence of light. Something is sad because you feel sadness. Something is cheerful because you feel happy. But what if you made a choice against that? What if someone treated you a certain way, but you decided not to get angry? You felt anger there. You felt hurt or offended because of their behaviour. But instead of accepting the angry feeling, you chose not to let it become an emotion. What if you chose to smile and let them have their opinion, stance, or behaviour. What if you chose to reject the feeling and decide to experience a different emotion? It is possible. Take love. Love is not a feeling. Passion is a feeling. Romance is a feeling. Love is not. Love is a decision. It is a choice. If you choose to love a person, it won’t matter what they do or say. You will love them. Your feelings will fluctuate, because feelings are a response to stimuli. What they say and do will give you feelings. But you can reject them and decide to love anyway. To feel the emotion of love on purpose, no matter what. To act toward that person with love regardless of how you ‘feel’ because you have chosen love.

When we realise this and apply it — which you must do consciously. Feelings are unconscious. Emotions are always from intention. Emotions are chosen. When we realise and apply this to our lives, we won’t let feelings dictate the morals that we choose. We will be standing by choice. We will be deciding on moral behaviour NOT because of a temporary feeling, but because of a reason. Which also means we won’t get offended or upset at people because they have other beliefs. Because of how they make us feel. Do you hate what they do or say? Does it make you mad, sad, disgusted? So what? That’s just feelings. Ignore them and act according to love. According to your morals. According to what you KNOW, not what you FEEL. Morality and moral conduct don’t rely on feelings but on decisions. They won’t make us treat someone differently than anyone else. That also is a choice. Morality and moral conduct rely on the decisions we make and the choices we make. The universal truth that we either reject or accept. This is what Jesus did. He acted from love and treated people from love, but He did not shade His message of Truth. If you asked Him something He told you the Truth. But He did it in love and from love. In total acceptance of people as people, regardless of how He felt about their beliefs and actions. Truth isn’t dependent on feeling. If we are not acting according to feeling, how do we then in fact act?

Jesus says take a stand (Romans 12:1-2). Don’t be afraid and don’t back down. Why? Because if you are standing on the Word — not a whim or a feeling, not just a single verse out of context, but scripture backed up by other scripture and in accordance with the will of God — then you are telling Truth. Not a single truth. Not truth as perceived by you which can be different for someone else. Truth is true. If it is true, it is true period. No matter who is in office, what laws are on the books, or what society does or doesn’t accept. It doesn’t change over decades of social change. It isn’t suddenly in fashion or a ‘product of its time.’ What people refer to as ‘our truth’ are either our own personal beliefs or our own personal experiences. They are true things that have happened to us, but they are not Truth.

Take smoking. That’s an example that we can understand. It isn’t a moral issue. It is a health issue. It damages those who participate and those around them through second hand smoke. You can still do it, you can say that you’ve smoked for decades, and you can say that so far nothing has happened to you. But you can’t say that your truth is smoking doesn’t kill. Because the truth is that smoking is harmful and smoking kills whether it does it in every instance or not — many of us have a grandparent who does an impression of a chimney and lasts far into their 80s, 90s, and sometimes beyond. But their experiences, even many experiences like them, doesn’t make it the truth. It makes it real for some, a true experience for some; but not Truth. The Truth is smoking is harmful and smoking kills. Period.

Morals work the same way. The Lord God laid down the moral truth of righteous living. Not on a whim. Not because He wanted to see a certain set of behaviour or not. He did it because He is RIGHTEOUSNESS. He laid down the things that need to be done in order to live righteously. Period. He did not demand we follow it. He asked us to. He invited us to. And still does to this day. We have the choice to follow His true moral path and we have the choice not to. His morals will save and bring Blessing. Period. Being immoral is harmful and kills. Period. The human experience, the stories that we claim as ‘our truth’, fall somewhere in between those two things. The human experience is real, but not True. We can claim a lot of things are good. The criteria we base that on, though, is human perspective. Social acceptance. It doesn’t make it True, only true for us from an experiential point of view. Only when those things we do and say line up with His independent and Absolute Truth are they truly good and true. Everything but God’s Absolute Truth is a false experience, regardless of whether we have honestly experienced it, felt it, believe it, or agree with it. Only TRUTH is true. That can be a scary realization and it has far reaching consequences (Hebrews 4:12).

Jesus calls us not to fear (John 16:33) and to choose to follow Him (John 7:37-38). Not just follow, but to declare to others that He is real, moral, righteous, worthy, and the only one who saves or can save us. This is an eternal issue, not a temporal one. When our bodies die, we continue to live. At the beginning of that eternal and never-ending life, we stand before the Father who will toss us into darkness or welcome us into life. Where we go is dependent on whether Jesus claims us or denies us. Whether Jesus does that depends on whether we are born again and declaring Him or rejecting Him here in this life. This is not a threat. This isn’t a ‘you’d better or you’re going to hell’ thing. This is a Jesus made the way to be with God thing. Jesus loves us. God loves us. They don’t want to be without us. Ever. If we proclaim Jesus, Jesus will proclaim us. That’s awesome! That’s a joyous promise, even if the opposite is also true. This is a positive promise.

Eternally, Jesus will take care of us. We have more value than mere physical things. We might see our circumstances or what our circumstances might be if we say that God’s way is the Truth and the right way to live. But don’t fear. Don’t let worry consume your life. Sparrows face predators, starvation, injury, and death on a daily basis. But they still go about their business. They don’t let anxiety over what is going to happen or is happening prevent them from living their life. God can let them do their thing, even as He watches each one. How much more does He treat us? How much more value do we have? Animals have souls, can experience pain, and can experience feelings. But they aren’t in the same class as us. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). We are made with care and intensity (Psalm 139:14). We were made by His hands (Psalm 119:73 & Ephesians 2:10). We are unique among creation, under the watchful eye of the Almighty God because He loves us (Jeremiah 29:11). We are unique among creation because whether we believe Him or not, follow Him or reject Him, love Him or hate Him, we are all — each and every human ever — all called to be with Him, in service of Love (1 Peter 2:9). Isn’t that a lot more than the care and affection He has for the animal kingdom and all other creation? We are special. We are loved. That’s why Jesus came. That’s why He volunteered for the job.

Don’t deny Jesus. If we confess with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead after He died for our sin (and all sin), we are saved (Romans 10:8-11). If we believe, it shouldn’t stay locked up (Luke 11:33). If our eyes have been opened to the gift of Jesus, we will naturally want to make Him smile. To live the way He says we should live. To reject sin (no matter how we ‘feel’ about any given act, item, or behaviour) because it is unrighteous. To choose to move toward being righteous in all things, not just our spirit. To choose to be sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11) because it is offered to us by Grace by His sacrifice (Titus 3:5), and to be part of the sanctification process (Philippians 1:6 & Hebrews 2:11).

This is more important than whether we are liked, whether we are called bigots or terfs, whether we are considered allies or traitors, and whether we are liked or hated. Jesus doesn’t call us to be bigots, racists, or persecutors. Jesus calls us to love one another regardless of how we feel (John 13:34). To model Jesus’ love and total acceptance of each other (1 John 2:6). We are also called to state the truth (Ephesians 4:25) but to speak ONLY with LOVE (Ephesians 4:15). That means telling God’s Truth, not cramming it down someone’s throat or demanding they behave like we want them to or think they should. Jesus called Zacchaeus down and went to his house to eat with him BEFORE Zacchaeus believed or behaved differently (Luke 19:1–10). We are called to love and walk along with His morals (Psalm 128). All of them, not just the ones we agree with. Don’t be afraid. Be upstanding. Be righteous. Don’t shove your beliefs down anyone’s throat. Don’t judge others, but share the Truth with them in Love. The only Truth. God’s Truth. As Jesus wants us to, as His Word directs us to, as Holy Spirit leads us to (John 16:13 & Luke 12:12). Jesus loves us all. Spread that Word today. Be an ally with eternity.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Romans 10:1-21

Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves everyone. The sound of that love is our words. Words in earnest and idle words. Every word is a seed. Every word that comes out of our mouths. Our words need to echo His sound of Love. Our sound needs to travel to the whole earth. Every corner, crack, and cranny. Why? Because Jesus wants everyone to know the Word of the Lord. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” (verse 15). God loves when you talk about Him. He loves when you share Him. With honesty, tenderness, and peace. One heart to another. In love. Because of love. He IS love. Love alongside Him today.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.