Fear of Man or Fear of God by J Leman

I had the privilege of listening to Todd White a couple weekends ago and he blew me away.  His understanding and revelation on our identity in Christ is amazing!  Many things Todd touched on that weekend have stayed with me, but one question rings louder than all the others.  In life you can either fear God or fear man, which one are you going to fear? By “fear,” Todd was really asking, “Who’s opinion about you matters more:  God or people?

Most Christians would tell you that they fear God, but do they walk that talk?  I can tell you that for most of my life, I feared man more than God.  Oh I feared God, but often my fear of man took precedent.  It was until last year, when I started to really care more about what God thought than what man thought.  It was the most challenging year of my life because so many friends and people looked at me like I was crazy because I not only believed what the Bible said but I tried to live it out.  People are not bothered by you believing something, but when you actually act on your beliefs it’s a different story.

Even to this day I struggle with this.  Do I make myself look good and try to self-protect or do I put it all out there for Jesus even though I may look like a fool?  It’s a constant thing.  Every day we have a chance to fear God or fear man.  It’s not just a question of “Do I pray for that person right now?” That is part of it, but it’s way bigger!  It’s about consistently making decision to honor God despite the consequences, even when you may look like a fool in front of your friends and people whose opinion you do care about.  It’s about loving people with the power of the Holy Spirit even if they don’t understand it.  It’s about laying down your life for the King, just like he laid His life down for you!