God or Man?

 

 

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Proverbs 29:25

 

 

I care way too much about what people think. I try not to let it matter and affect my decisions or actions but I spend too much time and energy on it. When someone says to me, “Well, she said that you said” I become immediately defensive. I think, “Where did she get that?” ” I never said that.” It never occurs to me at this point to think “why do I care about what she said?”!

Part of my problem is that these statements are often made by someone who has only a portion of the information about the circumstances they want to criticize. Often, these are said over something that I have prayed long and hard about and even searched the scriptures for. I may be able to go wrong on my own but if it has come from God’s Word – then I know I’m on the right path. God’s word first – then the counsel of godly men.

For some reason – the fear of man – my heart wants to give some weight to what others unrelated to the issue think or say. This is worldly thinking and does not please God. Unfortunately I am still learning this and often react before God shines His bright Light on it for me to see.

This line of thinking today has caused me to remember Paul’s words to Peter in Galatians 2:11-14. “But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Before the religious leaders arrived in Antioch Peter was openly eating and sharing the gospel with anyone interested in hearing about Jesus. But, when the Jewish religious leaders arrived Peter knew he would be criticized for it. They were not interested in seeing the Gentiles come to know God, it was their own exclusive religion. For his own comfort Peter backed away from the Gentiles and several others followed him.

Paul confronted Peter because he was more afraid of men than he was committed to practicing what the gospel preaches. We are to fear God above men. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28.

Sometimes we so fear what other men think that we back away from what we know God wants us to do or say. We want others to think we’re right. Other times we don’t want others to know when bad things happen to us (lose our jobs, spouse leaves the home, abuse in our lives) because we fear losing a certain reputation or favor of people. This is pride and God hates pride. It may be good if we’re looking to the Lord for direction. But God also clearly tells us that we’re to seek the wise counsel of other believers. If we need advice about something that is sensitive and others don’t need to know then we need to be discerning about who we talk to. Even among believers there is a tendency to gossip. But we can ask for prayer and keep things pretty confidential, letting others know there is a problem but not the specifics.

Sometimes I feel like I am swimming upstream as I work with people in touchy and not so clear-cut circumstances. They often have several advisers and several who want to advise. I have to be aware that I am to do and say what God tells me and not what others think is the thing to do or say (especially if they are uninvolved in the situation). God is who I am to please and His Word is to be my first advisor.

2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.