Driven by faith or fear?

"John, could I have a moment to talk with you?" I practiced this one line over and over so I didn't sound like a 13 year old boy when I finally had the courage to ask my future father in law...

We sat down and I told him I wanted to marry his daughter.

He looked at me and said...

"Do you want to marry Shelby because you want to spend the rest of your life with her... or because you don't want the pain of breaking up with her?"

It hit me like a truck.

He wasn't asking if I loved her. He was asking WHY, how deep was this love? It was like he was waking me up from the trance of young love and asking if it was REAL…

I answered him. But that question sat with me.

Even now... even knowing how deeply I love shelby… I ask myself.

Are we building the life we dreamed about together? Or am I just... “not breaking up?”

Most marriages end. Some of them survive. Very few thrive.

This morning that same question hit me in a different place.

Do I follow Jesus because I love him and truly believe in him? Or because I'm scared of going to hell?

I've heard men say... "well if the Buddhist version of spirituality is true, I will be saved... but if Christianity is true, then they are screwed, but I will still be saved. So I am going to stay here."

That's a hedge bet, that is not FAITH.

Paul wrote it straight... "God didn't give you a spirit of fear." (2 Timothy 1:7 / Romans 8:15) He gave you power, love, and a sound mind. And “you weren't saved to be a slave to fear again.”

Where you live... is it because you love it or because you're scared to try something different?

Your friends... are they people you'd choose or people you just haven't broken up with?

Your job... do you love it or are you just scared of losing it?

John's question wasn't just about Shelby.

It's the question every man needs to ask himself about everything he's holding onto.

WHY are you doing what you're doing?

Stay in the fire and never stop progressing. — Braven Grant