In the last devotional, I shared that fearing God is a healthy fear. Reverence to God brings blessing to our lives and produces a fountain of life. On the other hand, all other fears can be considered unhealthy fears because they are taxing on our souls and bodies.
Unhealthy fears cause anxiety, worry, strife, insecurity, loneliness, and rejection. One of the primary unhealthy fears is the fear of man. This fear can be paralyzing, and it can completely change the direction of our lives and move us away from God’s purpose.
The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25
Definition of Snare according to Strong’s H4170: “bait, lure, snare, by implication, a hook (for the nose):—be ensnared, gin, (is) snare(-d), trap.”
The enemy’s goal is for us to be ineffective as the children of God. Seeking the approval of others is a trap. This keeps us in bondage of other people’s opinion. As long as others have favorable opinion of us, life is good, and we are happy. However, as soon as, there is a change in opinion, we can go into a tailspin. We are trapped and obsessed with the fact that this problem needs to get corrected right away. We get angry, anxious, and frustrated, and then strife ensues because we are trying to gain the favor back.
In this tough predicament, people generally rely on perfectionism or compromise. The perfectionists will analyze themselves over and over again to find and correct every fault. The sad truth is that not every disapproval means that they are wrong.
Compromisers give up part of their values in order to regain favor. Compromising for the sake of gaining approval is an attack on our identity. Since this method is effective for gaining approval of others, people tend to repeat it over and over again to the point of losing themselves. They no longer know who they are and what is important to them. All they know is that they have “peace” because they are in “unity” with others.
How can we avoid fear of man?
The above scripture gives us one of those ways. In the midst of fear, we need to call out to God and declare our trust in Him. People’s rejection will require us to have courage. We need to trust God for the consequences of being rejected, which may be loss of relationship, popularity, or position.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 1John 4:18
When we recognize that God is the giver of perfect love, it takes us out of the position of slavery to man’s opinion. In addition, He expects us to give love away. We are no longer at the mercy of others’ opinion of us, but rather we are in a position to bless them with our love and acceptance.
