{"id":1845,"date":"2010-11-17T15:14:24","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T14:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pender.org.uk\/?p=1845"},"modified":"2011-08-26T00:00:50","modified_gmt":"2011-08-25T23:00:50","slug":"fearful-delight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2010\/11\/fearful-delight\/","title":{"rendered":"Fearful delight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do we do what we do?<\/h3>\n

Some things we do just because we do – they sort of happen around us and we just go along with the flow. Some we do automatically, out of habit, and sometimes we don’t even know we are doing them. Sometimes that habit can be so compulsive that we cannot stop ourselves from doing it – we have lost control, and the drift into addiction can follow. We do some things out of our emotions – we laugh because we are happy, cry because we are sad, we lash out in anger, scream with fear.<\/p>\n

Some of the things we do affect our emotions. If it is something that we have to do but don’t want to do it can make us resentful, angry, despondent. If it is something we like to do, we can experience joy, excitement. Think of your job – do you enjoy it, is there too much pressure, is it interesting, boring?<\/p>\n

What about the things you should do and the things you shouldn’t do? What is the driving force in the decision-making process there? None of us is so selfish or self-assured that we just do what we want, when we want, to whom we want. There is always a consequence of our actions, and we will always consider that consequence before we act. \u00a0We might make the wrong decision, but we still decide. Sometimes we will not do something because of our fear of those consequences.<\/p>\n

Praise the Lord!
How joyful are those who fear the Lord\u00c2\u00a0and delight in obeying his commands.<\/strong> (Psalm 112:1, NLT)<\/p>\n

In my post Fear is the Key<\/a> I referred to fearing God. In the verse above I see the words fear <\/strong><\/em>and delight<\/strong><\/em> in the same sentence!<\/p>\n

Are we told to obey God out of fear? If we obey God out of fear, then we are only being obedient out of the fear of retribution, out of the fear of punishment. That is no way to live! Neither is it the way to make the right decision and do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. I am told to love my neighbour, but I cannot do that if I am always looking behind me to see if punishment for failure is coming. No one can love out of fear – you can only love from the inside out. But there is even more to it than that! If I am fearful of punishment, where is my understanding of the Gospel? Where is my understanding of what Christ did for me<\/em> on the cross?<\/p>\n

Doing something you like to do is so much easier than doing something you have to do, so much easier than something you don’t want to do. Doing something you actually delight<\/em> in is easiest of all. Speak to any heroin addict and he will tell you that the first hit he had from the drug was so wonderful that he wanted to do it again. I am not equating obeying God with heroin, but if we find delight in obeying him then we will<\/em> want to do it again, and again, and again.<\/p>\n

So don’t obey God out of fear, or superstition, or even out of a sense of duty! Obey him because you delight in his commands! Enjoy what you do!<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do we do what we do?
\nSome things we do just because we do – they sort of happen around us and we just go along with the flow. Some we do automatically, out of habit, and sometimes we don’t even know we are doing them. Sometimes that habit can be so compulsive that we cannot stop ourselves from doing it – we have lost control, and the drift into addiction can follow. We do some things out of our emotions – we laugh because we are happy, cry because we are sad, we lash out in anger, scream with fear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[3,17,413,19,28,33,34,36,38,39,48,55,56],"class_list":["post-1845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","tag-bibleblogs","tag-christ","tag-christian","tag-compassion","tag-decision","tag-faith","tag-father","tag-forgiveness","tag-god","tag-good-news","tag-jesus","tag-lord","tag-love","category-5","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfWaLo-tL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4337,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2019\/04\/all-in-the-head\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845,"position":0},"title":"All in the Head","author":"Robert Pender","date":"25\/04\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"4338\" img_size=\"full\"][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_column_text]Anyone who knows me knows that I've got a head. I think it's to do with the lack of hair. My head is very visible because of that. There is no hair to hide it. The thing is, though, that it's not what's on the head\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3915,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2018\/02\/compared-to-others-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845,"position":1},"title":"Compared to Others (2)","author":"Robert Pender","date":"22\/02\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hands up anyone who is imperfect \u2026\u2026. Of course, anyone who didn\u2019t put a hand up is full of pride and has therefore fallen from a state of perfection, so you can put your hand up too! Now that we all have our hands up, I thought we would just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2110,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2011\/01\/right-mountain-out-of-the-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845,"position":2},"title":"Right, Mountain, out of the way!","author":"Robert Pender","date":"27\/01\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A friend of mine will shortly set out on an amazing adventure - to climb Mount Kilimanjaro - to help raise funds for the charity Scottish Spina Bifida. I really admire him for that. It will take courage, strength and endurance. You can sponsor him if you would like to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7242,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/12\/14-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845,"position":3},"title":"14 – Plans","author":"Robert Pender","date":"16\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7243\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have always been a great believer in making plans, especially when we are doing something special or going away somewhere. It is best to get it right and not miss anything out. Be in control! The trouble is that we are seldom, if ever in control.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1865,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2010\/11\/can-i-help-mr-cameron\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845,"position":4},"title":"Can I help, Mr Cameron?","author":"Robert Pender","date":"28\/11\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I was interested to read that Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, is going to spend \u00c2\u00a32million on measuring the happiness of the British people. Happiness, according to the dictionary is a state of well being and contentment. 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