Day 2405 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Proverbs 29:25 NIV
In my own personal opinion, one of the most worthless things that we could ever do is worrying about what other people think about us. That's something that we've talked about several times in these posts because I know it's something that a lot of people get caught up in. We're all taught to live in fear of being caught on the wrong side of what's popular or powerful at the moment. But we have to understand the opinions and even the actions of this place can not overpower, overwrite, or overrule God's sovereignty.
Living in fear of the opinions, hatred, judgment, and persecution of humanity will only trip us up. It's a snare that keeps us stuck in one spot without the courage to move beyond the boundaries that have been set up by our society. Giving power to those around us that they don't really have is something that all of us have done, but it's also something that we can control. It's something that we can stop doing. And in fact, if we're actually going to follow Christ and share His message with the world, then it's something that we have to stop doing.
The thing that we lose sight of is that other people aren't any more powerful or authoritative than we are. We give them that power to dictate our thoughts and actions because we're scared of what they'll do if we don't fall in line. We don't want to be yelled at. We don't want to be called names. We don't want to be labeled a enemy of the current state of things. We just want to fly below the radar and try to not rock the boat. So we allow the popular opinions and loud voices to silence us and force us to live in the shadows of what we could be.
But when the world is heading in the wrong direction, as it is now, we can't stay silent anymore. We can't afford to worry about being hated or making people angry with us. We can't allow the vile, evil, and lost to keep us in hiding because whether the world likes it or not, the message of the Gospel is the only thing that can break through the lies and save people. So we have to stop living in fear of man. This place will always hate what's right, true, and holy. But friends, that's exactly who and what we're called to be.
So we have to make a choice. Are we going to listen to a broken humanity's wicked desires or are we going to serve Christ? We cannot do both. It simply isn't possible. Yes, people won't like it. People won't like us. People don't want to hear the truth. People don't want their cozy sin-shacks rattled. But if we live in fear of the pushback then we're only going to miss out on helping people find their way to the salvation that we've found in the cross.
Fearing man will keep us from acting on the faith that we claim to live by. But if we trust in God and follow His plans and purposes then we'll finally be able to see that what happens to us in the life isn't what matters. It's what comes next that's truly important. We may be hated, yelled at, called names, beaten, jailed, or even killed because of our faith. But those are all far better than riding this sinking ship all the way to damnation. We just have to learn to think bigger than these fleeting earthly lives we're living right now.
We hear a lot of talk about being on the right side of history these days. Well, the Bible has told us how this is all going to end, so we know the final chapter of this world's story. Do not trade eternal peace for worldly comfort. Yes, we will be hated because of our faith. But when those words, names, judgments, and even threats of violence start weighing heavy, just remember that there is a purpose for the pain. And that purpose is eternal salvation for anyone who is changed by the Gospel and chooses to follow Christ.
That's the right side of history, doesn't matter what anyone else down here says. This place is broken. Do not give it the power to pull you away from what's perfect.
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