Of all the things I have struggled with in life, fear of man has been one of my top nemeses. This fear displays itself through multiple avenues, whether it's performance driven, approval seeking or a bitter root judgement towards others. Fear of man becomes a grueling task master showing how ruthless it can be when we choose it as a form of coping instead of God's life maps that leads us to joy.
Let's compare the two directions we can take.
1. "The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in and puts his confidence in the Lord will be exalted and safe." Proverbs 29:25 AMP
Or we can choose
2. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Proverbs 9:10 ESV
Though I know the right answer I have not always followed it.
My earnest desire is to always allow the Lord to completely chart my course in the right direction, recently I was confronted with a judgemental thought in regards to someones appearance. Ashamed I wanted this long standing generational root yanked out of me once and for all.
I whispered " Lord I do not want to think like this anymore." Not only is it not what He has called me to do, this behavior creates a bitter root judgement that boomerangs right back to the sender. Matthew 7 :1-3 makes it very clear when it says "Do not judge,or you too will be judged".
Our wrongs choices keep us from living the abundant life He came to give us.
As I cried out about my wrong behavior the Lord lovingly showed a picture. It was of me standing on a boat as a soft breeze tossed my hair and gentle waves lulled the ship that was tethered to the pier. When I asked Lord what it meant I felt Him saying "it was time to untie from A Pier... meaning untie yourself from appearances and fear of mans approval. It was a beautiful invitation to freely set sail on the wide open spaces of His grace.
Which is what my heart longs to do.
How about you ?
Are you ready to set sail into all of God's goodness ?
"When you harbor bitterness happiness will dock elsewhere." Andy Rooney
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