10/18 Teaching - Conduct Yourself with Fear

What does it mean to conduct oneself with fear? Peter commands that the church do that until the exile is complete. As we will see, this matches with much of what he has already said.

Peter begins with a conditional statement, basically saying, "If you call him Father, then conduct yourself with fear throughout the exile." If you are a Christian, there is a certain way in which you will conduct yourself. Peter isn't calling the believers to be afraid of anything. He is calling us to fear the Lord - know who he is, what he has done, and what he demands from us. This fear involves a right trembling before God and recognition of who he is - our Almighty Creator. Often times, we lose sight of this and talk about God as if he is just another person in our lives. I have even seen shirts that say "Jesus is my Homeboy!" I partly understand what they are getting at, but it is still a basic belittling of God and his majesty. Part of conducting ourselves in fear is to daily remind ourselves of the fact that he is God and he is not one to be taken lightly. His glory demands a proper respect - a proper fear.

Why do we do this? We conduct ourselves this way because of what he has done for us. We have been ransomed from the futile ways of our past, and been made new. We now conduct ourselves with a right fear toward God because we are in awe of who he is and what he has done for us. We don't owe it to him. Jesus paid for ALL of our sin, and because of his death and resurrection, we owe nothing. However, we love and fear God because of what he has done.

The question for us is to ask how then are we conducting ourselves? How are we not conducting ourselves with fear as God would have us. What in our lives is evidence of this? The call for us is to pray to the Lord and ask him to show us those areas that we discount him. We should study the Word as it shows us more and more who he is. We should then turn from those sin and repent, asking him to forgive us and turning from those sins.

Some things to discuss with your child could be:

1. Memorize: Isaiah 40:28
Ask them:
2. What does it mean to conduct oneself with fear towards the Lord?
3. Why do we do that?
4. How are you not doing that?
5. Pray with them, asking the Lord to show you both the areas in your lives where you sell him short and don't live as you should.