God designed and willed for the Christian home and the local body of believers to function as two of the closest experiences to heaven on this side of eternity. As believers, we ought to love one another (John 13:34-35) and serve one another by that love (Galatians 5:13). Rather than backbiting and devouring each other (Galatians 5:15), believers ought to give themselves to ministering to each other. In Paul’s epistle to the Corinthian believers, God led Paul to mention a family addicted to the ministry. At some point, this family decided to sacrifice their own gain for the sake of ministering to others. Because of this commitment, the Bible says that Stephanas refreshed the spirit of other believers.
Fear introduced is faith attacked. As such, we should not be partakers of the world’s fears. Instead, we should “sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be” our fear (Isaiah 8:13). Throughout scripture, the Lord admonished His people not to fear the world. Why? The answer is twofold: (1) the Lord was with them (Genesis 26:24) and (2) fear of the world yields bondage (Proverbs 29:25). This worldly bondage never originates with the Lord (Romans 8:15) for He has given Christians a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). We need not fear those who can destroy the body (Matthew 10:28); rather, we ought to say the Lord is our helper, and we will not fear what men will do unto us (Hebrews 13:6).
