All my life I have been striving to fear nothing (and well, if I have to take accountability for myself, succeeding.) For the first time in my life I'm asking if this is actually a good thing.
Yes yes, the Fear of God. I don't consider this to be a phobia or something to 'EEEEEEEKKK!!!' at. My relationship with God is of whole respect and love... This is where things get fuzzy. SHOULD I be afraid of God? I recently heard a sermon by Mr. Smith that was about our 'Dangerous God.' It was quite inspiring and thought-invoking, and it left a taste in my mouth that meant I needed to do some thinking. The point of this post -I must point out- is not actually what Mr. Smith was talking about, but a lot of the premises were there to get the cogs churning.
Does a certain phobia of what God can and will do to you incite further obedience? In my most recent (before all this incessant pondering) ideals this type of fear would only result in knots in necks, useless tears, and nothing more. Do people follow God out of terror? Is God leading people solely out of their own fear in some specific and isolated cases? Is that what some people need for motivation? Should I pity them? (at this current juncture, I truly do.)
Can one not follow God simply to be on the good side? To side with those that most perfectly fit your inner need to love, make people happy, instruct, take instruction, and emulate the hero? (Christ) Can this not be your underlying motive for following God?
All of this thinking gets a bit difficult when I try to apply it to people around me. Why is such-and-such in the Church of God? Why is he not? They both know the truth. What decisions were made about your internal moral character that made one go one way and one the other? What about God's calling echoed differently in each persons psyche?
I have some studying to do. And in the first time in a while its not on someone else's suggestion.
Life is good. I can't sleep due to having this cough/sneeze/sniffle/headache. Might as well enjoy myself.
