The Scriptures warn us that the fear of people is a snare. And yet, how often our lives are consumed by the fear of people.
As we continued our series, “Fear Less, Live More; Getting Through Life in One Peace,” we dealt with how to face and get over the irrational fear of people. The truth is, we can’t love those we fear, and people can’t love us if they fear us. Rejection, finger-pointing, prejudice; all of these things keep us not only at arm’s length but rob us of the joy, help, and intelligence of people we need in our lives.
We talked about the five ways in which we fear people, and how to deal with each one. We also talked about the three ways we allow people to have power over us, and how to take that power back.
But the big pay-off today, is the positive application of the admonition of the Scriptures; that we’re to trust God and love people. We talked about the ten ways people win with people; the qualities of people who have what we would call people-skills, but beyond that, the ability to reach out and form meaningful, lasting relationships over time.
This talk goes to the heart of why The Gathering actually even exists. Our mission statement is, “To help good people connect to God and each other for the purpose of changing the world.” We’re not done just because we preach or teach the gospel, or point people to a God we can’t see, taste, or touch. Our mission is also to connect people to people as a direct response to their relationship with God.
Know someone who is living with the fear of people? Today’s talk is just what they need to hear.