The Optics of Giving – 5/26/24

I want to talk to you about an experience I had in the past. For some of you who have been here for a while, this is going to sound familiar, but I want to share it again for two reasons. One, it’s been almost 20 years since I shared this. I know you guys have a good memory and all, but— Secondly, this experience is ongoing. The message I’m about to tell you about I heard a long time ago, but I listened to it again recently and realized how far God has brought me but how far I have to go.

When our church was just beginning almost 33 years ago, Dave Nestberg (who is Matt’s dad) and I went to a ministry leadership conference in Atlanta for the day. About halfway through the day, they played a sermon preached by Del Fehsenfeld right before he died of a brain tumor. He preached this message two months before the Lord called him home.

He was preaching to over 600 pastors, and you could tell he was going to be with Jesus. He really didn’t worry about offending anyone. The text was Proverbs 29:25,

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

The fear of man lays a trap, ensnares, leads to bondage. But if you trust in the Lord, you’re going to be safe.

What is the fear of man? Fear of man is any time we care more about what people think than what God thinks. The fear of man leads to insecurity. Del talked about how insecurity results when we place our confidence or trust in people or things that can be taken away. If you want to live an insecure life, put your confidence or trust in people or things, status or stuff that can be taken away.

Del described his seven-year battle  — wish mine was only seven years—with the fear of man and then he listed some specific ways that the fear of man can manifest itself in our lives, or the fruit of the fear of man. These are just some. Here they are (there are many more): we find it difficult to be transparent and honest. We stay in bondage to secret sins because we’re too embarrassed to ask for help.

We try to control people. That ends up leading to an inflexibility and defensiveness, reactionary. We, especially leaders, are threatened by questions and interpret differences as dangerous. We live with a low-grade frustration. What does that have to do with fear of man? If you try to control people, you will learn very quickly they don’t like to be controlled, and that leaves you very frustrated and them very frustrated and full of resentment. So an unhealthy confidence in people will lead to them letting you down, inevitably, and you will tend to be inflated by approval and deflated by critique. Hence the roller coaster of the fear of man.

Another characteristic of the fear of man: we struggle to confront wrong personally. We tend to do it indirectly through gossip or collectively through slamming groups of people. We rarely share the gospel. Why? We’re afraid of people’s reactions. What if I don’t have all the answers? What if they don’t like me? That’s the fear of man. We have nervous habits like biting our fingernails, overeating, over drinking.

We keep talking. Excessive talking often is the result of insecurity or the fear of man, because we have to keep talking until we see agreement in the eyes of the listener. So if the listener’s eyes never agree, you never stop. We tend to exaggerate. This we talked about a couple of weeks ago, and this is an area God really hit me with, trying to make ourselves look better or our point stronger. We namedrop. We are more concerned about our reputation than God’s. Preachers often manifest this by an excessive need for educational or denominational affirmation.

By the way, no one’s left out. Kids, you can be bound by the fear of man. You say, how do I know if I’m bound by the fear of man? If you only obey when your parents are watching. You only do kind deeds when it’s rewarded. Teenagers, same thing. That desire to fit in is another word for the fear of man.

Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

This would be a good one to memorize. Can we say it together?

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

One more time.

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

As I was listening to Del walk through these and many other examples, it was a terrible and wonderful experience. It was terrible because it was obvious, even though there were hundreds and hundreds of people in the room, I was the only one in the room. You know that feeling when the Spirit of God just puts the spotlight on you? But it was wonderful because the Spirit of God was speaking specifically to me, and he was giving me this vision.

So I’m 27, the church is just starting. We hadn’t actually formally formed yet. And God was saying, Peter, there are two ways of doing this. One way is the road of human approval – the fear of man – and it will lead to bondage. The other is the fear of God – divine approval – and it leads to freedom, security. Which way are you going? You need to decide right now. It was that clear.

Choosing God’s way and the way of freedom isn’t easy or automatic because the fear of man has a way of sticking to us. Jesus hits this head-on in the middle of his most famous sermon. Let’s reorient ourselves.

Sermon on the Mount. We begin with who we are, a new identity in his kingdom (5:1-16). Then we spent several months on how we live, a new authority (5:17-48) where Jesus repeatedly says, “You have heard, but I say to you.” Jesus defines true righteousness, a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, and we looked at six case studies culminating last week with loving our enemies.

Now this week we pick up with the beginning of chapter six, what we live for. Or you can say “what we live for” or “trust in” or “treasure.” All those, same thing. We’ll see that as we work through chapter six and Jesus is promising a new security.

He breaks this into two parts, and these are two of the most common false sources of confidence. The first, don’t live for status (1-18), don’t live for stuff (19-34). Status is another word for the fear of man, living for what people think of us, human approval. Stuff is all the money, possessions that promises security but can lead to bondage. He begins with status in the first 18 verses. Look at Matthew 6:1,

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

Do you see these same two roads? You’re going to see it in these first 18 verses: living for people versus living for your Father.

If you live for people, you live to be seen by them (verse 1, 5, 16, 18). If you live for your Father, you rest in the fact that you are seen by him. If you live for people, you’re acting before them (that word “hypocrites”). If you’re living for your Father, you’re living before—and he’s going to give three examples—giving, praying, fasting. We’re focusing on giving today. Next week, praying. The following week, fasting. Then if you’re living for people, you will be rewarded by them, praised by them. But if you’re living for your Father, you will be rewarded by him, known by him.

Let’s jump into example number one, giving. We could break this into two parts. One, the human optics of giving. Now I want to use that word “optics,” which in some English-speaking countries is not even a word, or at least it’s not the word in the way I’m using it. It has two primary definitions. The one is the main one, the study of light. The other is one that has developed over time (I think since the 70s), and that is public perception typically used in relation to business and politics. It’s a PR term.

Some people don’t think it should be used this way. Maybe not, but I think it can be a helpful term in relation to what Jesus is talking about. In this election year, you will watch a lot of candidates managing optics. What do we mean by that? You have to get a picture with certain people, and you don’t want a picture with other people. You want a picture doing certain things, not doing other things. Candidates will often become more religious during an election year because that’s all about the optics.

Jesus is talking about the human optics of giving. There are two features he focuses on. Number one is actors. Verse two,

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets…”

Because Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which only had a few hundred people in it, some people might be tempted to believe he was unfamiliar with the theater. But Nazareth was only a few miles from Sepphoris (or Zipporah in Hebrew), which was the capital of Galilee. Jewish historian Josephus called it the “ornament of Galilee.” It had a colonnaded street and was located at the crossroads of two major trade routes.

Herod Antipas was rebuilding the city at the time Jesus was growing up, so it’s possible—we don’t know, but it’s possible—that Jesus and his father might have worked on the construction of this city, as he is described in Mark 6:3 as a “carpenter,” which is the Greek word “tekton,” which could be generally translated as “craftsman,” or today we might say “engineer,” or more specifically translated, an artisan who works with fabrics, a carpenter who works with wood, or a stonemason who works with stone. Most likely that one.

The theater at Sepphoris could seat at least 2,500 people. Parts of this one are renovated. The lower seats were carved into the rock, and the upper seats provided a beautiful view of the Galilean hills.

There are a couple of indications in the text here that Jesus is thinking of the theater when he’s describing this. First is the word “hypocrites” (verse 2, 5, 16) comes from the Greek word hupokrites, which literally means an actor who performs on a stage, typically wearing a mask. This usage in the Gospels may have been the first time this word was used metaphorically for a pretender, two-faced. The term was taken from the stage and applied more generally to what we now know as hypocrites.

The second indication that he might be thinking of the stage is the word “seen” in verse one. It’s used 12 times in Matthew. It’s from the same root that we get our word theater from.

Important qualification: Jesus is not negating acting. It is stunning when someone can assume the role of another character and believably portray that. What Jesus is getting at is living that way, when we are acting our way through life, pretending our way. That is the fear of man. That is bondage. What Jesus is saying at the beginning of chapter six is these religious leaders, even when they’re giving, aren’t giving, they’re performing. They’re actors.

The second feature is applause. Second half of verse two,

“…that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

They’re in it for the likes and they get a lot of them. They’re in it for the affirmation, the recognition, to get a spike in followers, and—verse 2—”they have received their reward.”

We don’t know if they actually literally blew trumpets when they gave, but they at least tooted their own horns. They wanted to be seen. They were more concerned about being seen as good than they were about actually becoming good. This can be super addictive, can’t it? A lot of people think because Jesus exposes it among the religious, that it’s only among the religious. But that’s not true.

You’ll notice, even as young people deconstruct their faith today, often they will talk about, “Yeah, I used to be just all about the show in church. It’s just about pretending. Can’t be honest. I’ve chucked church.” Now and then they post a video that checks all the boxes of our current culture, and you quickly realize they haven’t been set free from the fear of man. They’ve just moved to a different stage, seeking a different applause from a different group of people. This is how settled the fear of man is: you can walk away from religion, but the irreligious are just as bound by the fear of man as the religious. It just takes on a different form. That is human optics.

Now look at, Jesus says, the divine optics of giving. How should we think about this? There are two features. First is routine. Verse 3,

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”

What does this mean? Does Jesus want us to literally keep our left hand in our pocket so that if we write a check — Does anybody know how to write checks anymore? — Or you click to give online, or you’re putting your money in the boxes out there. You’re baking a pie for a neighbor. You got to keep that left hand in the pocket while you do that good deed or it doesn’t count? Is that what he’s saying? No.

This expression is an expression that highlights the difference between this spectacular, dramatic, kind of giving (trumpet blowing, applause seeking) and what is done so naturally and routinely and habitually as to be unnoticed.

Let me give you a mundane example: you finish your shower in the morning, you’re about to get out, and you’re trying to remember, did I shampoo my head? Putting your deodorant on. And after you put your shirt on, you’re trying to remember, and you have to do the sniff test to see.

A couple of things may be going on there. You may be senile, or what happens to some of us is our minds are so preoccupied with other things while we’re getting ready that we just naturally walk through our morning routine, and every once in a while we wonder, how did I get where I’m going? Like, did I actually do what I thought I did?

What Jesus is talking about is routine giving is the kind of giving that is done so naturally and instinctively and habitually as to not require trumpets blowing, applause seeking. It’s like putting on your deodorant. You’re like, that doesn’t sound very spiritual.

Look at the opposite, the Pharisee in Luke 18:11-12. Jesus told this story,

“The Pharisee, standing by himself [in the temple], prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”

Notice what he’s doing: let’s just take a moment and take me in. Look at my bad self. Look at what I give. Look at me when I fast. Left hand, look at what my right hand has done. Do you see the opposite of what Jesus is talking about? It’s done ceremoniously. Dramatically. Looking for approval. Applause. The fear of man lays a snare. Routine. Jesus is talking about a way of living that is natural. Supernatural, but routine.

Secondly, look at the reward.

“And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Everybody wants to know what that reward is. You get a shiny trophy? I think the reward is God himself. That intimacy with our Father. That smile. That is better than a million smiles. His like, which is better than all the likes you could possibly get. His favor.

Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

When God’s people experience the joy of his pleasure and favor through Jesus, the shackles of the fear of man break. That’s our reward. We no longer can be bought or blinded by favor. It’s a completely different way to live.

In 1735, George Whitefield was a 20-year-old student at Oxford. This is years later when he was finally able to get the cool wig. Yeah, but when he was at Oxford, he was utterly miserable. He slipped into depression. He was physically exhausted and in despair.

At his lowest point, he looked to Jesus. He called out to the Lord. He experienced what it was like to be poor in spirit. And Jesus met him, washed away his sins, filled him with the Holy Spirit. He describes it as having a load being lifted, a joy “unspeakable,” “big with glory.”

He loved at that time to get alone with the Lord and just feed on his word. But it wasn’t long before people realized George Whitefield had an unusual gift. Whether he was sharing in small groups or with big crowds, the crowds kept growing. The people pleading with him to preach to them. It got so bad— listen to the way he describes this dramatic increase in popularity:

“The tide of popularity began to run very high. In a short time, I could no longer walk on foot but was constrained to go on a couch [not the couch we think of] from place to place to avoid the hosannas of the multitude. They grew quite extravagant in their applauses. And had it not been for my compassionate High Priest [talking about Jesus], popularity would have destroyed me.”

Now stop for a second. Here’s a 20-something-year-old who’s already learning the fear of man lays a snare. Popularity is dangerous.

“I used to plead with him to take me by the hand and lead me unhurt through this fiery furnace.”

Some of us are thinking, I’d like to go through that fiery furnace. How can popularity be bad? Whitefield says,

“He heard my request and gave me to see the vanity of all commendations but his own.”

The trap is opened. Not long after that, he came to the United States. The Great Awakening literally transformed our country. But while he was here, some friends back in England printed some horrible things about him. He wrote this,

“It is good for me that I have been supplanted, despised, censored, maligned, judged by and separated from my nearest, dearest friends. By this—”

Notice he’s not saying what they did is good. He’s saying the fruit of that is good because

“I have found the faithfulness of him who is the Friend of friends … and to be content that he to whom all hearts are open … now sees … the uprightness of my intentions to all mankind.”

I know for many of us this may be new. It’s not that rejection is good, but rejection can be one of the means God uses to set us free from the trap of the fear of man. What Jesus is saying in Matthew 6 is one of the other normal means that God uses to set us free, or a fruit of being free is routine giving.

A couple questions. Number one, why is routine giving such a good example of breaking the bondage of the fear of man? Because routine giving is a sign of a trust transfer. Our confidence, our trust, our treasure is moving off of status and stuff — everything he’s going to talk about in Matthew 6 — onto our Father. We’re trusting God, not people. We’re adoring God, not people or things. We’re loving people, not using people to make ourselves feel better. You see the difference? Loving people because of what God has done is us rather than people being the means of us feeling good about ourselves.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:17,

“As for the rich in this present age—”

You could replace that word “rich” with “Americans.” Then he warns us of two dangers of money: vanity and idolatry. Look at vanity.

“charge them not to be haughty—”

What is that? That’s getting at the status piece, thinking, well, the reason I have more money than he has is because of my brilliance or my diligence. That’s why I’m here and you’re here. Paul is saying, that’s a lie. That’s a trap. So watch out for the trap of vanity.

The second trap is idolatry.

“nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God—”

Riches come and go. One day they will all go and you will stand before God with none. So put your hope, your faith, your confidence off of the uncertainty of riches, off of the uncertainty of status, and on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

How do I experience this transfer of trust from status and stuff to God? He says,

“do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation—”

The good foundation is in contrast to the uncertainty of riches.

“for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

You want to really live? You want an abundant life? You’re not going to find it in pleasing people and you’re not going to find it and trying to accrue possessions. Jesus is warning us of both of those and calling us to turn from them, to trust in God. That’s how the stronghold is broken.

Second question, is it always wrong to give publicly? Shortest answer to that question: it is always wrong to give to be seen, but it is not always wrong to be seen giving. That confusing? It’s always wrong to give to be seen, but it’s not always wrong to be seen giving.

If my motive for giving or serving or doing anything — Jesus is going to talk about praying and fasting later in the chapter — but if my motive for doing those things is in order to be seen, I am stepping in the trap of the fear of man. But if while loving God and loving people, I am seen — that is very different.

You see this tension. We talked about this a few months ago when we were in chapter 5. Let me remind you of this one. Matthew 6:1a, Jesus said,

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.”

Hold that intention with Matthew 5:16,

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Do you see the difference? One, the motive is to be seen, and the other is to love our neighbors and bring glory to our Father. We will be seen.

I think it’s important to emphasize, Jesus is not calling us to break out of the trap of the fear of man to fall into the trap of self-introspection, to where we were paralyzed. We can’t do anything good because we’re afraid will be seen. That’s just more bondage.

Also, there are examples in the Bible of cooperative giving, public giving. A few months ago in my Bible reading, I was in 1 Chronicles 29 and King David and the people sacrificed financially together. They were preparing to one day build the temple. Verse 29:9 says,

“Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.”

Then he begins blessing the Lord in the presence of everyone, and says,

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both—” [Here it is.] “…riches and honor—” [Stuff and status] “…come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you…. and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.”

Do you see? When we humble ourselves and acknowledge that everything we give comes from the giver, we’re giving back what we’ve been entrusted with. When we come to God collectively as a church family and offer that up to him, that actually breaks the shackles of the fear of man. It doesn’t create that. We experience this at our anniversary offering each year, last November.

One of the reasons we always say “whether you want to give money or praises on cards” is so that if I am tempted to give only to be seen — give online, give in the box, give a praise. But there’s something powerful about God’s people sacrificing together, acknowledging that everything we have comes from him, through him, to him.

Do you want to hear some good news? I think we can handle some good news. Last fall (and earlier), when we began talking about constructing a new worship center and renovating all these buildings in the process, we laid out two primary goals or means of financially accomplishing that. There are other things people are doing, but these are the two big ones.

One is that each year at our anniversary, we would sacrifice together. Last year we aimed for $1 million, and the Lord provided. How much? Do you remember? Over a million and a half. Just blew us away. All to the glory of our Father. So that’s one big goal, is each year to do that. But that alone won’t cover these costs.

Along with that, we called everyone to pray about increasing regular giving. We talked about the fact that the average evangelical gives about 3.5% of our household income. Some people none. Some people much more than that, but it averages around 3.5%.

Based on what I was told, we as a church family average about 4%. Yay, we’re above the average. But we said, what if we could all together — And this, I think, is a beautiful example of routine giving. No trumpets, no big thermometer. Nothing wrong with thermometers, but people’s names aren’t going on. We’re not giving in order to be seen, but routine giving is each of us as part of God’s family, saying, “What if we could, on a regular basis, increase our giving?” We realize Inflation is rough and things are tight, so we’re all going to have to tighten up together and see if that can increase.

Unfortunately I don’t know how much it has increased, but here’s the good news: the financial team told the elders a couple of weeks ago that they recommend we move $750,000 from the general fund into the building fund due to your routine giving. Praise God. Applause to God. Isn’t that amazing? That means a couple things.

I get so excited about this because of why we call our project “building more than a building.” Because if we have to sacrifice missions and sacrifice local ministry and everything that we’re doing in order to build a building, we’re lost. Something’s wrong. But if we can meet the facility needs here and actually see an increase in what we’re doing here and around the world in caring for the needy, in discipleship ministries, in local outreach and global outreach, training pastors, digging wells, planting churches around the world because of your routine giving — deodorant is going on, no trumpets week to week to be able to say, okay, we’re moving three-quarters of $1 million into this. Can you imagine if we could do that every six months?

What’s happening there is all of our giving rises. Our missions goes up with that number. Our local and global outreach. Everything is able to expand, and so all glory to God. That is just one example of the power of routine giving as God’s people are moved by the Holy Spirit to sacrifice on a regular basis.

One last question: how do we break free from the bondage of human optics? This is where it gets tough because the trap of the fear of man works like any other trap: it’s based on deception. It promises things it can’t deliver. It only works when it deceives. So for us to stop and think about — or we could say spot it — to ask ourselves questions like when I struggle to be honest or transparent, when I want to manage what people think about me and know about me, when I have this desire to control other people because they won’t cooperate, what am I being promised? What lie am I buying for that to continue? When I’m afraid to confront wrong, when I, as a parent, desperately want my kids to like me more than to obey God and disciple them, what am I being promised? What need do I think this fear of man will meet that God my Father will not? That’s super helpful because when you begin — and we can’t always know that. The Spirit sometimes makes that clear. There are times where I’m doing things and the Spirit’s just like, do you know why you’re doing that? It’s all about this, and you know that’s a trap that’s not going to deliver what you think it will deliver. So spot it.

Second, turn from it. Turn from it. I know that that’s happening right now. Many of us are saying, Lord, your approval is better than the approval of my boss. Your love is way more secure than the love my friends can give me. To be able to say to your Father, Lord, please. I turn from this bondage. I’m beginning to see it. And brothers and sisters, this isn’t a one-and-done. Like I said, I heard this message almost 33 years ago and there are days where I feel like I’ve learned nothing. It’s an ongoing, transformative process. But when the Spirit reveals, we turn. And then here’s the big one: we turn to our Father.

If you haven’t heard anything else, please hear this: you cannot defeat the fear of man directly. What I mean by that is the more you try to fight thinking about what people are thinking about, the more you’re thinking about what people are thinking about. Anybody have any idea what I just said? If I’m thinking, oh Lord, I’m afraid that people might not like this sermon on the fear of man — The more I think about not wanting to think about what you’re thinking about, the more I’m thinking about it. You’re in quicksand: the more you flail, the deeper you go. That’s why Proverbs 29:25 is so beautiful. The way you defeat the fear of man is turning to your Father, looking away, not focusing on. Psalm 25:15 is another way to say the same thing,

“My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.”

I love that it’s counterintuitive. If your feet are caught in the net, where do your eyes go? To the net. What he’s saying is the more your feet are caught in the trap, the net, the snare of the fear of man, the more your eyes focus on that — it’s this destructive cycle. Turn to your Father. He will untangle your feet out of the snare.

The best book on this is a classic. There’s now a second edition, which I have not read — Ed Welch, When People Are Big and God Is Small. If you haven’t read that, you will be asked when you get to the pearly gates. You might want to check that box there. No. It’s that foundational. It’s so good. Listen to what he writes:

“All experiences of the fear of man share at least one common feature: people are big. They have grown to idolatrous proportions in our lives. They control us. Since there is no room in our hearts to worship both God and people, whenever people are big, God is not. Therefore, the first task in escaping the snare of the fear of man is to know that God is awesome and glorious, not other people.”

Isn’t that so freeing? People are okay, but God is awesome. He is glorious. And ironically, the more you stand in awe of God, the more you can truly love people. Not use them, not manipulate them.

So here’s your homework, three things. One, ask your Father for a bigger awareness of his nearness, his greatness, his goodness. Ask him for a big vision. It’d be good to talk about the people you’re in community with. Say, okay, how can I grow my vision of God so that people are put in the proper proportion?

Second — and kids, we can do this too — look for opportunities to serve when there’s nothing in it for you. There’s no pay day. There are no cameras. No one’s applauding. I feel like you all are so good at that. Every week, hundreds and hundreds of people serving in selfless ways for no other reason. And we have a father who sees and rewards. It’s beautiful.

Third — this may be for a few of you who need to hear this today — reconsider interpreting rejection as an invitation from your Father, not as a statement of your worth. So everything inside of us, when we experience rejection — it may be a job loss, maybe from a loved one or boyfriend/girlfriend/friend that you used to hang out with — that rejection stings and it seeks to define us. What if you could see that as like Whitefield was talking about? Maybe your Father is breaking the shackles of the fear of man and inviting you closer. Let’s take a moment and talk to our Father about this.

Father, when we taste your kindness, your goodness — The toxicity of the fear of man is nasty, so maybe for some of us, the reason we’re so bound by and drawn toward pleasing people, longing for them to think certain ways about us, even doing good things to try to bolster our reputation, the reason that is so attractive is because we were not feeding on your goodness. We were not aware of or were stiff-arming your smile.

May we run to you through Jesus, by faith in Jesus who has taken all the wrath, all the rejection, all the judgment, so that we can come to you in your smile and feeding every day on your steadfast love. And as we do that, the chains of the fear of man melt away. Please, Lord. set us free from the trap. In Jesus’ name, amen.