Matthew 10:28 (NKJV) 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Sometimes the things or the people that we face can cause us to be fearful.
Circumstances can cause us to fear their outcome.
More commonly, though, people can cause us to fear them for what they can do.
Most times these fears are unfounded and unnecessary. But our minds can run away from us, letting fear dominate our thoughts.
Jesus told His disciples that we are not to fear those who can “kill the body”. It’s not our body that counts, but our soul.
You see, our bodies are simply the shell that we live in. Yes, we should value our lives enough to take care of our bodies and use them to bring honor and glory to God.
But we should never allow fear to cause us to avoid doing what God has called us to do.
Man may be able to destroy the body, but he can never destroy our soul.
God, however, is who we are accountable to. He has dominion over our souls. And it is to Him that we answer, here on earth, and for eternity.
This is not being written to be heavy or scary, but to bring truth and understanding to us so we don’t spend our lives fearing those who truly have no control over us, even if they may think they do or act like they do.
Fear God (in reverence), but do not fear man. It is not to man that we answer.