Have you ever wondered about the Bible verse in Proverbs that says, “Fear the Lord?” What exactly does it mean? And why would fear ever lead me to feel gratitude?
God is the creator and designer of all things. If we remember how powerful He is and stay in awe of the miracle He performed on the cross to make us a part of His family forever, our only desire will be to please Him and honor Him. We won’t care about what people think of our life choices or our decisions because our priorities are seen through the lens of the cross, and our hearts can’t help but become full of gratitude.
If (or more likely when) we lose sight of the cross and of God’s work in our lives, God will become smaller in our minds, and we will instead see our priorities through the lenses of other people’s standards for us.
And we all know how impossible those standard can be!
The only way we know to impress each other in our culture is to buy more and more stuff to show how successful we are. Without realizing it, we fall into the trap of living only to one-up the Joneses. Whatever gratitude we may have experienced is instead replaced with envy and discontentment.
So how do we keep our eyes and our priorities fixed on God? We have to take actionable steps every single day to ensure that we never lose awe or fear for what Jesus did for us on the cross. When feelings of envy or jealousy start to creep in, ask yourself, “Did Jesus come off of His throne in Heaven and die a martyr’s death so that I could sit in jealousy of my neighbor’s new car?”
Of course the answer will be no. Asking yourself this question daily will keep you motivated to consider what He did make that sacrifice for and set your eyes on accomplishing the things worthy of that sacrifice--regardless of what others may think.
Here are some questions for you to consider as you start your weekend:
- Have you found yourself envious of something or someone lately?
- Who is the one person in your life you are trying to impress, whether you are consciously aware of it or not?
- What can you do to reignite the awe you have for what God has done for you so your heart can be filled with gratitude again?