Fear No Fear

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

Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.
Colossians 3:14-15 (emphasis added)

Walking in love is not the way that the world works. Take twenty minutes and scroll through social media. You will get a cross section of humanity. Yes, there will be those who are screamingly negative. Yes, there are those who are just sharing a snippet of their day. But the rest, if you think about it, may surprise you. There will be things that make you laugh. Humour. But it is humour at the expense of someone. Affirmations. But they will be promoting an immoral—by God’s standards—lifestyle or activity. Celebrations of great moments in the careers of entertainers. But if you look at it, you’ll see thousands upon thousands of people throwing their energy and adulation at another human. I’ve seen shots of a crowd at huge concerts with their hands up, tears streaming down their faces, eyes closed, and literally worshipping the music and the artist making it. You’ll see sexualised images (male and female) designed to make you tingle and think naughty thoughts about them. You’ll find mean spirited practical jokes—often portrayed as humour. You’ll see talking down, fear mongering, and subtle messages of you’re-not-enough hidden inside videos for health practices and products. All of this is very indicative of how the human mind functions on its own. All of it is unhealthy. None of it is walking with love—except those few people just sharing a moment of beauty in their lives to celebrate a feeling of nice.

What about family? I try to encourage my kids and live by the principle that they need to be built up and made to feel that they have the chance to do anything that they put their minds to study and work at. How many times a day do I have to catch myself? Phrasing something in a negative way? Having to go and apologise to them for something I said or did. Apologise that I didn’t listen or cut them off. Having to drop what I am doing or need to accomplish in order to go back and say, I didn’t hear all of that. You have my attention now. Please repeat yourself. Making sure to hold myself to the same standard as I do them. There are days I feel the negative far outweighs the positive and that’s with me trying hard to BE positive with them.

Then its head out into the world time. The people in traffic with me. At the stores. The clerks, wait staff, bank tellers, and people on the phone lines. Whether I mean to or not, am I treating them right? Am I blaming them for their behaviour? Behaviour I do myself? Am I blaming them for things that are not their fault or their problem? Am I projecting my frustration onto them? Am I doing good by them or am I being negative? Am I building them up or am I contributing to yet another moment where they feel less than how God meant them to feel? Feelings aren’t real, but if that is all the input you’re getting then sooner or later you’ll start believing it. If you’re not hearing an alternate choice, you start thinking your feelings are reality and maybe even that reality needs to bend a knee to your feelings. Sadly, substance abuse, medical science, social constructs, and the internet all have ways to help you do just that. But why live a lie? Why choose less than what is true?

A lesson we can take from all this is that human beings are selfish. We all have the idea that what we want, we feel, or we think matters. As if we, individually, are important. We all are simply following the patterns laid out by society—even the ones that buck the trends or break out of the mould. None of us are here so that we can accomplish something for ourselves. None of us are here to make a difference. None of us are here to think great thinky thoughts. None of us are here to live life, do the things, raise the next generation, relationship with someone, and then retire into peace and enjoyment. None of this is our purpose. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together” (Colossians 1:15-17).

We were made for God. We’re here to do what He sets before us. We’re here to worship Him. We’re here to bring glory to His name in all that we do or say. We’re meant to be in Jesus, because by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus we do all that we do. This is our purpose. This is the meaning of life: “Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). And if we do that, we’ll keep the two greatest commandments. And if we do THAT we’ll walk in peace. Because it is by those commandments that walking in peace is possible.

“A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (Matthew 22:39). This is walking in peace. Treating those around us—no matter who they are—as important as ourselves. Considering how selfish humanity is on its own, this is huge. Do you place the thoughts of others beside yours? Do they have the same weight and importance? Are you always considering what they say or are you always telling them how wrong they are? Are you always offering others the largest piece of cake? The last cookie? Do we share with others the bounty that we are blessed with? Do we enable them to succeed even if it means that maybe we won’t get that promotion we wanted? Are we enriching the lives of those we come into contact with, or do they cringe when they see us coming? Are we sharing our beliefs, ideals, and opinions or are we forcing others to live according to our standards?

This is one reason why the enemy makes such heavy attacks on our idea of self. If he can get us to dislike ourselves or hate ourselves, we will automatically devalue others. If the being that I am–the thoughts, senses, and feelings by which I experience life—if that being has no value, then how can I value something that is outside of myself? How can I treat them with honour? If I don’t care how I feel, how can I care how they feel? It is only a mentally healthy person who is able to gauge the value of themselves or others with clarity. Unfortunately, the world is so twisted and bent, only renewal of our minds by the Word can bring us into true mental health. Only through the Lord can we see the truth because He IS truth. Renewing our minds also brings to us a servant attitude, because that is what Jesus had.

We learn humbleness because we are all nothing compared to the Lord (Jeremiah 10:6-7). In Him we have our worth (Galatians 2:20). If we have worth in Jesus and in the eyes of the Father, then everyone else does too. No matter what WE see, the Father sees Jesus in them. The Father sees their hearts, their innermost thoughts, the secret them that they show to no one else. He sees their beauty. He sees their worth. He likes them. He values them. He wants them to contribute to the splendour of the Kingdom. Since that is true, shouldn’t we be striving to help them? To take care of them, bless them, enable them to succeed, guide and teach if they need it, listen and learn if we need it, and generally treat them the way that we would treat Jesus if He was there in front of us—minus the worship part.

If Jesus was taking your order, would you be nice? If Jesus was ringing through your groceries, would you be patient? If Jesus was asking for food on the side of the road, would you buy Him lunch? If Jesus was getting food from the food bank would you donate? If Jesus was singing off-key in church, would you wish He’d just shut up? If Jesus was taking too much time to get dressed or pick a thing out at a store would you berate Him or demand that He just hurry up? If Jesus was asking the same foolish question for the thirtieth time, would you tell Him to shut up or that He was stupid? If it was Jesus around us instead of other people, how would our conduct change? How much does our perception of people colour our interactions with them? We say we should find ‘our people’ or ‘our tribe’ like it’s a positive thing. While there is worth in finding a group of supportive people, the fact is that all people are supposed to be our people. Regardless of how they treat us, we are supposed to treat them with patience, mercy, grace, and love. How are we supposed to do that instead of just punching them in their stupid talk-backy faces?

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). That’s how we do it. “‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). Combine these with the verse from Colossians about bringing God glory in all we do and we have a clear roadmap to follow. God needs to be first. It isn’t about how traffic is slowing you down. It isn’t about a server who keeps getting your order wrong. It isn’t about a neighbour who plays their music too loudly. It isn’t about kids who won’t pick up after themselves. It isn’t about homeless people taking over the town square. It is about what does Jesus have for you to do at this moment?

This doesn’t always mean huge things. Maybe your purpose and task at this moment in time is to smile. To smile at the other drivers. To smile at the server. To be polite. Our vehicle broke down in the middle of winter. Right before Christmas. We had it towed. The next day we waited, but heard nothing from the dealer. Figured they were either closed or busy. We enjoyed our holiday. Then my partner called the first day after that things were open. Told the guy no rush. Just get the work done. They apologised for the delay, we said no biggie. Not your fault. They’d tried to call right away but the number was wrong. No biggie. Do what you need to. Very low-key because we weren’t worried or upset. The dealer had done nothing wrong. They were busy. We weren’t rushing. It was all copacetic. But when I got there to pick up the vehicle, he could not say enough about my partner and how she made his day. How much of a pleasure it was to deal with her. All from simple politeness and not pushing. We made his whole holiday. That was what Jesus wanted us to do at that moment.

The next moment might be bigger. It might be financially related. Helping someone out. Giving to a charity. Buying someone lunch. Gifting a ministry something. Paying someone’s tuition. Winning free groceries for a year and giving it away to a friend who needs it. But maybe the next moment is a thank you. A compliment on someone’s clothes. Their hair. Telling them it’s good to see them. Being friendly.

Maybe it isn’t about what you’ll do. Maybe it’s about what you won’t do. You won’t swear. You won’t raise your voice. You won’t look disgusted. You won’t shake your head at their attire. You won’t cross the street making sure your child won’t interact with them. Maybe it is about us not doing one of the thousands of things we do that come from a place of negativity. Maybe it is about not adding to the burden that person is carrying.

Sounds like a tall order and it is. Our habits are ingrained in us. Our flesh is no help at all. “It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life” (John 6:63). The flesh doesn’t help us walk in peace. There is nothing about it that helps. Not feelings. Not fight or flight impulses. Not anything. Our habits are selfish. They are judgmental. They are not worth giving in to. But in Jesus we can do anything and everything that we are called to (John 15). When we use the Word to align ourselves with God’s will, it is easy to walk in peace.

Focusing on the Lord God Almighty is the key to peaceful walking. If our eyes are on Him all the time, it is really hard to step awry. If we consciously and on purpose try and say and do nothing but the things that will please Him, there is a lot we wouldn’t do. If we take a few moments to think about it and decide on a course of action before we open our mouths, there is a lot of hurt in the world that we will help do away with. Jesus told us to have a servant’s heart (John 13:2-17). Not a bitter, indentured slave. A servant. To serve instead of take. That doesn’t mean drain yourself. It means to rely on Jesus in joy for our strength as we put others before us, We’re not doormats, we’re servants. We don’t have to give up everything to others, we give up everything to Jesus who then takes care of all of our needs and godly wants. We’re to be meek, not gullible. We’re to serve, not slave. We’re to love, not be oblivious. We’re to be led by the Holy Spirit in all things. He always has the best interests in heart—ours and everyone else’s. He’ll never hurt us and He’ll never forsake us. If we leave it in His hands and remain obedient, everything always works out.

We need to put God first and foremost in our life. In all things we say and do, we need to do it for His glory and not ours. If we let the Lord guide us and renew us and transform us, then we will approach every situation and every person with the Lord in mind. We’ll be able to walk in peace, seeking the best for those around us the same way we seek the best for ourselves. We can be a mutually supportive, ever-uplifting, ever-helpful group of people who are known for our capacity for love. For our rejection of fear and all that comes from it. We can be a light in darkness, knowledge shared in a world of ignorance. We can be a model of Jesus for this world. We can walk in peace.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 5:13

Have you ever left out the salt in a recipe? Amazing the difference it makes, isn’t it? And this is a product that isn’t that good for you. That’s not saying that we should cut it out. Sodium is necessary to our bodies. Vital to our function. But we need only about 200-500 mg of sodium in a day. Period. That’s unrealistic if we eat processed food or a lot of man-made put together things, so dietary recommendations say keep it under 2,300 mg a day and preferably not more than 1,500 mg. That’s less than 1 tsp of table salt. An average medium fry order at a fast food restaurant is about 260 mg. 100 g of chicken has 82 mg. A Roma tomato has 3 mg. So does an onion. An apple has 2 mg. Everything has a little. The more we process it, the more it gets and it all adds up quickly. Everything has it. We notice if it is left out. Is this why Jesus said we’re supposed to be the salt of the earth? Too much salt can be bad for you. Get too much of a believer’s personal beliefs together and you get religion. Is THAT why we’re the salt of the earth? Or is it that you can’t live without having some? That the body dies away slowly but inevitably? If you eat a whole food based diet, you’ll get what you need sodium-wise without needing to add any. If you live a Word based life, you’ll get what the world needs Jesus-wise. Don’t add anything. Take the Word as the Word. Live according to what Jesus says. Do what Jesus did: model the Father, obey the Father, give glory to the Father in all things. If we live this way, we’ll be good people. The kind of people who get a reputation. The kind of people eagerly looked for. The kind of people known for loving. The kind of people who get asked what their secret is. God made us this way. To be mirrors of His love. He loved us before the world began. He loves us now. He’ll love us in the future. Help Him. Model His love today. Be like Jesus.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.