Love > Fear

LOVE IS GREATER THAN FEAR

There are few things as precious to me as my time of prayer with my children each day.  My wife Aracelli and I have two beautiful children whom we are striving to raise in the ways of the Lord.

(Graziella and Renato at the zoo in Lima, Perú)

As I tucked them in to bed the other evening we all said our prayers.  They were still a bit antsy, so I told them that they needed to rest and I did not want to hear any noise or see them walking around. 

Renato, our 3 year old son, answered back “OK daddy!”  Of course, I was fairly certain that it was merely lip service and I would hear him yelling and making a fuss within moments.  

Graziella, our 7 year old daugher, took a different approach.  She was a bit more honest and asked a question which has come out of her mouth on various occasions. 
“Well, what will happen to us if we don’t do what you say?”
My typical reply would be something like “You’ll get a spanking” or “Don’t test mommy and daddy!”,  but tonight I spoke to them about true obedience.

I said “GG” (that’s our nickname for Graziella), “If you are obeying mommy and daddy simply because you don’t want to get punished, then you aren’t practicing true obedience.  If you really love mommy and daddy then obedience should be your natural response to us.  

You obey because you love, not because you’re afraid of punishment.”

WOAH!  

Sometimes the insight we gain from a moment of parenting can surpass years of study and laborious research.

I was telling my children that the reason to obey us and to live appropriately was because they love us, not because they fear us.

Isn’t this exactly what so many do within the church?  

Don’t we often choose to obey God out of fear of hell, sickness, pain, exposure, etc? 

-> How often do we desire to do evil, but avoid it out of fear of consequences, rather than desiring to do good out of love for our Creator??
-> How often, as believers, do we avoid sin or temptation simply because we are fearful that we may be exposed or because we may get punished?  
-> How often do we fall into the trap of attempting to earn our salvation by way of human works?  

This is the great divide between Christianity and all other religions!

We do not do good to avoid punishment.  
We do not do good to earn salvation.  

Our salvation has been earned for us.  
Our punishment was given to Jesus when He went to the cross.  

We do good as a response to our good God.  
We avoid bad because He lived sinless for us.  

Anything of good that flows from a believer is because we are loved by God and in turn have been made to love Him.  We obey because we love and we love because He first loved us. 

This is the essence of the gospel, that we are loved by God and in turn we have come to love Him and obey Him.  Let us contemplate this in our daily walk, we obey out of love, not fear.  Love was Christ's motivating factor when He went to the cross and it is our motivating factor to live holy before Him.

LOVE IS TRULY GREATER THAN FEAR!

The Mission Field

Martin Luther was made famous when he posted his 95 Theses onto the outside of the Castle Church door.  This sign was posted on the inside of a friend's church door...

Though this if far from the 95 theses, it is one thesis that all believers should learn to live by.  When people leave their church the challenge is clear.  This church is declaring that they want their members to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  The pastors are saying to their members and themselves- 

"YOU ARE GOD'S CHOSEN METHOD 

TO SHARE THE GOSPEL 

WITH THE WORLD!!"

The mission field is not a football field.  This is not a game for the superstars to shine while the rest sit back and watch from the stands.  The mission field is wide open and ready for all to go and get into the game.  There is no such thing as a bench-warmer on God's mission field.  The whole church is called to participate and that is what this single thesis is declaring.

Church:  God could have come down and preached the gospel Himself, He could have sent angels, He could have done anything he wanted...but HE CHOSE TO USE US.  God chose us to share His message here on earth and He chose us to be His hands and His feet to the hurting, the lost and the dying.

Every time you leave church I want you to remember this sign.  Sunday service is simply a strategy session for you.  Once you've received your training and your inspiration it's now your turn to get out into the game and make some plays!  

You do not have to be in Peru with us to do missions work... YOU ARE ON THE MISSION FIELD DAILY.  So let's get out there and make our 'Coach' proud!!