"Conduct Yourself With Fear"

Peter tells us, "And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth." (I Pet. 1:17) Do you call God your Father? If you call God your Father, should there be some respect as a Father? We learn that God our Father will impartially judge each of us according to our personal work. He will impartially judge in two areas of our lives. Let's take a look at this closely.

"Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose to motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God." (I Cor. 4:5) When the Lord comes, there are two things that are going to be revealed: (1) He will bring to light the things hidden. Jesus is going to expose open for all to see the things done in secret. When people do things in secret, there is a reason for their secrecy. In most cases, when people 'sneak' around, they have no intention of changing. That's why they do things in secret. Jesus is going to bring those secret things to light. If one address God as their Father, they need to realize Jesus is going to bring their hidden things out for all to see. No one will hide anything from the Lord! (2) He will disclose the motives of the heart. Why we do what we do is most important to the Lord. One can do good for the wrong motives. It may be to gain praise or recognition for themselves. It may be to get something in return from another. Sometimes it can be a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' motive. Our motives are going to be disclosed. Can you imagine that no one will ever know your intentions, but one day, in front of all, the Lord will disclose openly your motives for all you did. This will lead to whether we get praise from the Lord or condemnation. Notice in the verse we read..."and then each man's praise will come to him from God." After bringing things hidden to light and disclosing motives, then the Lord will praise you unless you aren't living an honest life.

If we address God as our Father, we need to live our lives in a reverence, respect for who He is and what He will do. He is impartial. It doesn't matter if your a minister, rich or poor, God is not partial. He will deal with each of us and that should put a fear/reverence in our heart by addressing Him as Father. That alone should affect our conduct!