1 Peter 3:13-14 - Fear

“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right; you are blessed. ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’”

Human nature feeds on fear. I found a website that lists 530 known phobias; including:

Octophobia – fear of the figure 8
Papyrophobia - Fear of paper
Euphobia - Fear of hearing good news
Gallophobia or Galiophobia - Fear of France or French culture (insert joke here)
Kathisophobia - Fear of sitting down
Genuphobia - Fear of knees

Fear of knees? Really? We fear lots of silly things. But there are also some legitimately frightening things in this world: death, cancer, terrorists, natural disasters, loneliness, rejection, and the future to name a few. Our world can be a hard place with many things to terrify us.

But God says, “Do not be afraid!” As a matter of fact, that phrase is used 65 times in the bible – and just so you know, it is a command, not a suggestion. With all the fear-worthy things in this world, how can God tell us not to fear? I’ll let Matthew 10:28 answer that question for us:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Nothing on earth can harm our eternal soul – so why fear it? What if I die in a drive-by-shooting? Your spirit leaves this temporary shelter and resides in perfection with Christ for eternity. What if I get a debilitating illness? You receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit and when your troubled existence on earth is over, you reside in perfection with Christ for eternity. Do you see a trend here? If you are a follower of Christ – all stories end with, “perfection in Christ for eternity”.

This focus on eternity doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about our struggles on earth. Jesus spent much of His ministry healing people, the bible calls us to care for the widow, the orphan, and the infirm, and He provides the Holy Spirit to minister to us. God cares deeply for our lives in the present, but He never loses sight that our life on earth is very, very temporary and eternity is…well…eternal.

As Paul says in Romans 8:18, “I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Paul’s point is not that our present sufferings are inconsequential – but the glories of God are so much greater than our suffering that there is no comparison. I challenge you to contemplate that truth for a few minutes – it will bring you an amazing hope!

God is the only person, place, or thing we should fear because He is the only one who can destroy both body and soul. God is God, He is Almighty, and He is able to do absolutely anything. The other side of the coin is His character: love, justice, and righteousness. We would be stupid not to fear His ability to destroy our body and soul, but knowing His character transforms that fear into loving, respectful awe.

So…what are you afraid of? God says there is no reason to fear – not because the thing isn’t scary – but because He is more powerful than the object of your fear. When we fear earthly things, we tell God that those things are more powerful than He is; the things we fear control us. Do you want to be controlled by a healthy, righteous fear of God or by your fear of knees?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10

“The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: Do not call conspiracy everything these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread…” – Isaiah 8:12-13 (This is the passage that Peter quotes in verse 14)