Fear & Lies
I Peter 3:14-16 - But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
We live in a culture based on fear and lies. Our politicians are fearful of the loss of their positions of power, so they engage in lies to support their agendas.
The young girl with the unexpected pregnancy is fearful of the consequences of giving birth, believes the lie of "my body, my choice," and aborts her baby to solve her "problem."
Perhaps, this thinking is based on the lie of evolution, which says that life came, randomly, from nothing; therefore, it has no value and no purpose, so it can easily be discarded. Those who truly set their hopes on evolution are also motivated by fear, because, if they recognize the need for a creator God, they realize that they must submit to His authority in their lives. Their self-centeredness will not allow them to go there.
One of the problems with lies is that they create hypocrisy. Tolerance of others only goes as far as agreement with others. The "tolerant" quickly become intolerant of those who challenge their thinking.
Thus, we see the hypocrisy of the lie of evolution, when it is used to justify the gender confusion that is rampant in our society. Evolution of the species is non-existent, without male and female interaction. Therefore, the idea of same-sex marriage is inconsistent with evolutionary progress. Even if we were descended from monkeys, which we are not, it still would have required male and female monkeys.
There are 365 instances in the Bible of Fear not, one for every day of the year. We, as Christians, need to avoid the fear and lies of society and engage in the truth, hope, and power of the Word of God. We need to find our identity in Jesus Christ instead of in our performance in the world, and share our testimony of God’s transformation of our lives, with those in our spheres of interaction.
When we share the truth in a loving, kind, and gentle manner, and deal with negative reactions in the same way, the contrast in our behaviors will be obvious to those observing. Hopefully, there will be those who see the hypocrisy of the revilers, and they will be drawn to the truth of our testimonies. Perhaps, even the revilers will be brought to an understanding of the truth and see the shame in following a lie.
1 Peter 2:24 - …and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;