Do we imagine God as beautiful and loving, or convicting judge and punisher? When the Bible mentions the fear of the Lord, are we meant to be afraid? Is God watching to catch us breaking His rules so He might unleash His mighty wrath? Or, like a loving Father, are His commands meant to protect and guide us to our best life? To choose God’s ways is to accept His promises and choose peace.
Every Command Holds Promises
1 John 4:17-18 tells us, “God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” MSG
Yes, God gives us commandments, but He formed them out of love. God does not make unreasonable demands, limit our fun, or stifle our freedoms. Quite the contrary. Every command holds the promise of our peace. How do we know? James 3:17-18 says, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. Full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” NLT
Choose Peace
In this series, we will explore God’s promise-filled commandments for 5 life challenges: Forgiveness, Knowing Yourself, Attitude, Motivation, and Purpose. To choose God’s ways, is to choose peace.
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:3-11 MSG
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