As we approach Halloween, we are reminded that humans have a relationship with fear. Fear creates a response that can harm. As we listen to the news or scroll through social media, we realize that many people are living their lives driven by fear. Whether they are afraid of the government, illnesses, other people, natural disasters, or losing something valuable to them, fear is what motivates their actions and thoughts. Many Christians will claim that they follow Christ, so they are not driven by fear, but that is not true. Many Christians live their lives with fear and then wonder why they struggle with their faith. We cannot live fearfully and then claim that we have faith in Jesus.
When we are driven by fear, we insult people and demand that they think and believe like us or society will fail. Once we do this, we are requiring for other people to live by fear. This is not a new phenomenon. This has been occurring for hundreds, and possibly thousands, of years. If we just look at America, we can see that since the Puritan days, Christians have lived their lives by fear. The Puritans feared people thinking for themselves. The Puritans feared the leaders, so they followed the rules, even if they did not have a true belief in God. For the Puritans, once they found themselves not following the rules, they feared punishment, so they immediately pointed out the sins of someone else, so that person would receive punishment, and no one would see their sins. This is exactly what we are doing today, except we see most of it on the Internet. We must choose to focus on repenting from our own sins, and then we do not have to worry about the sins of someone else.
Once we choose to live by fear, we limit ourselves, and then we blame others and God for our unfulfilled lives. We choose to live in safety and not take a risk on an opportunity that is given to us with our careers. We do not take risks in relationships, so we settle and then blame everyone else for our own choices. We become envious of other people who are succeeding in business or in relationships, or even in their spiritual lives, and we choose to dig to find their flaws. We do this because we are blind that we are living by fear, and they are living by faith. Living by faith is a choice to take calculated risks, as we continue to follow God and seek his will. Living by fear is a choice to not take risks, as we continue to follow rules and blame God for not revealing his will to us. If we let go of our fears, we can live by faith and have a life that is unlimited.
Living by fear is easy. Living by faith is difficult. When we live by fear, we proclaim that our ways are the only way to live. When we live by faith, we proclaim that we can love other people as Jesus did, even if they are not living the life that Jesus would set for them. If we live by faith, we continue to serve others and love them, without worrying that the world will fall apart if we do not follow certain rules or believe and think in specific ways. Look at society. People who are living by faith are striving. They are serving others and not getting recognition. (I always think of those who are working with the homeless.) They are discovering innovative ways to help others and work with other people, even if those people think and believe differently than them. Living by faith is difficult, but it is worth it in the end.
We have a choice. We can continue to live by fear, which I did for many years in my Christian life, or we can choose to live by faith and honor God with our lives. 2 Corinthians 5:7 claims, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” (NIV) If we really do live by faith, we do not worry about what we cannot see in the future. We live in the present to make a better future for those around us when we walk by faith. Let us choose that in this next week as we will hear and see sights that could frighten us, that we will begin to live by faith and not fear.
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