Fear of Man
Fear of man is such a deceptive part of us that we don’t think we have that fear. But it surfaces through”people pleasing” or being a control freak. It snares us to man’s approval of man rather than the approval of God. It is like the three-legged race, which ties legs together and then you have to outrun everyone else. This is a picture of the fear of man, you don’t function as you, you are tied to the whims of other people so that you can not be you. It snares you way from God, when Peter denied Jesus it was because of the fear of man, the bible records Jesus looked at Peter (It was not a condemning stare, but Peter come back). There were two men who wept bitterly because of the fear of man in the New Testament Peter and Judas. Peter overcame with the help of Jesus. The fear of man snares others. The Pharisees were afraid and they snared those around them. The phrase the for “fear of the Jews” is repeated over and over in the gospels, they tried to contain and control the people, and eventually rejected and reviled the Saviour. Invite someone to take a closer look at Christ (who can release us from the fear of man) and his church.
