Someone shared with me her observation about two bosses. One is loved but not feared by his subordinates. Because they love their boss but don't respect his authority, they don't follow his guidelines. They other boss is both feared and loved by those who serve under him, and their good behavior shows is.
The Lord desires that His people both fear and love Him too. Today's Bible passage, Deuteronomy 10, says that keeping God's guidelines involves both. In verse 12, we are told "to fear the Lord your God" and "to love Him."
To "fear" the Lord God is to give Him the highest respect. For the believer, it is not a matter of feeling intimidated by Him or His character. But out of respect for His person and authority, we walk in all His ways and keep His commandments. Out of "love," we serve Him with all our heart and with all our soul - rather than merely out of duty.
Love flows out of our deep gratitude for His love for us, rather than out of our likes and dislikes. "We love Him because He first loved us". Our fear and love for God enable us to walk willingly in obedience to God's law.
Lord, You are holy and Your thoughts are much higher than mine.
I bow before You. Thank You for salvation in Jesus.
I love You and want to obey You with all of my
heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen.
If we fear and love God, we will obey Him.
^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^ ... ^.^
Deuteronomy 10:12-17
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations - as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the who shows no partially and accepts no bribes.
~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~ ... ~.~
somehow, I learn this lesson through someone...
I do love him, i think... should be no doubt for it... otherwise my heart won't feel pain or anything else... miss him all the time when he is not around...
at the same time, i started to afraid of him... because I love, I care, therefore I couldn't afford for any loss... can't imagine the day when he leave me alone...
Anyway, fear and love... realize i had done too much for him, causing him to feel ignorant... out of love but end with fear... some simple things that I thought somehow spark out the issue to challenge our relationship...
I do have no idea what a relationship suppose to be or either to love someone "properly"... but if lesson only can be gain through issues, that's hurt... How much faith I could have put onto him? no idea... but nothing else I can do other than trust him...
a wife said a prayer, wish not to idolize her husband... now i understand... not to means worship the husband, but when care for his opinion more than God's, there's a clash for the first position in my life...
nothing wrong to love him, but I feel like have to love him as he is a king... I need to give my best to support him, not being a burden for him... he can just simply go chase after something else without worries at the back...
that's sounds simple but is actually not easy at all when it come to action...
dear, i love you more than i can thought of... but i'm sorry that my stupidness had hurt you...
in no way i will lie to you about this... if you need a quiet period, just let me know... let us observe each other in a distance, and go through everything that we had in past few months...
any decision that you make, make sure it is the most ideal one for you... doesn't matter for your promise or anything... just make a decision that you will not regret in the future... dear, I do love you... therefore i had lose the chance to do that decision... because i'm so stubborn, unteachable, had give my all to you... there will be no U-turn for me... but I think you are rational enough to do the best decision for your life... don't let me affect the rest of you...
dear, nothing else to say, but i really love you... I had put away all my principle and lessons i had to go with you... no matter what the people say, i will find a way to convince them to accept you just as your family did... at least my mom had no objection... one of my god-mom do support us, and a sister in christ gave us the best wish...
I don't know how hard would it be for a loving couple (if you are), together hand in hand and get the blesses from people... but the future will only be decided by you... ever since i'm for you. be yours all the time...