Don’t Be Afraid To. . .
By Allan E. McNabb

We had a great Gospel Meeting with Barry Hudson last week.  As I think about the lessons, I can’t get four major points out of my mind, that I want to share with you in this article.

Don’t Be Afraid To Fail
The word fail means “to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved” (Dictionary.com).

Using this simple definition, we must admit we all fail.  John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:8).

Since everyone fails, we shouldn’t be afraid to fail.  As a matter of fact, we should realize we’ll make mistakes and seek to learn from their them, rather than cowering from the fear of failure.

Parable of the Talents
The fear of failure is the reason many people fail.  Some don’t try at all, and some only half-heartedly try, because they’re afraid to fail.  The thinking is, “If I don’t try, I won’t fail; therefore, I’ll succeed.”

In the parable of the talents, the one talent man had this attitude.  He  was  afraid to  try, so he hid his talent in the ground, expecting his master to accept his excuses.  But when his master returned, he was punished as a lazy and wicked slave (Matt. 25:18, 24-29).

If we allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear, we guarantee failure in the form of eternal damnation.  But if we rise above fear and obey God, serving Him to the best of our ability by risking failure to gain success, the Lord will mercifully grant us a home in heaven.

Failure Doesn’t Necessarily Result In Damnation
Paul says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

If failure automatically resulted in damnation, we could never be saved.  But the opposite is actually true — since we failed, we need salvation.

We shouldn’t be afraid to fail, because everyone fails.  As failures, we’ll either obey God resulting in eternal life, or continue disobeying Him resulting in eternal damnation.  Either way, we all make mistakes and fail at some point in life.

Don’t Be Afraid To Act
At first, Esther was afraid to fail. If she approached the king and he didn’t hold out his golden scepter, she would die.

But Mordecai counseled her, saying, “Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish.  And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this” (Es. 4:13-14)?
Esther responded by instituting a three day fast before going in to the king, revealing her attitude, saying, “If I perish, I perish” (Es. 4:16).

Like Esther, we can’t be afraid to fail.  If we perish doing God’s will, then we perish.  It’s better to die serving God, than to live, and spend eternity in hell.

Don’t Be Afraid To Show Kindness
It’s very popular to be unkind in our culture, and bully other people.  It’s recently become such an epidemic over the Internet, TV commercials  attempt to reverse the trend by showing the devastating affects it has on children.

One way Christians are different from the world is kindness.  And rightly so, since we experience God’s kindness in our lives (Eph. 2:7).  Therefore, God commands us to put on compassion and kindness, which is a component of the fruit of the Spirit (Col. 3:12; Gal. 5:22).

Don’t Be Afraid To Give
The story of the rich man and Lazarus tells of a man who was afraid to let go of his worldly goods.  He may have been selfish, wanting to keep them for himself; or he may have been hardhearted and uncaring.

For whatever reason the rich man refused to help a child of God, we can learn from his life, the end of which is eternity in torment.  We can’t be afraid to step out and do the benevolent work God has ordained, kindly giving to those who are in need, especially to those of the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).

God blesses us materially to share with those who have need (2 Cor. 8-9).  If we obey God, we’ll store up treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is life indeed (1 Tim. 6:19).  But if we’re like the rich man, and keep all our wealth for ourselves, we’ll be tormented for eternity.

Conclusion
As James says, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (Ja. 1:27).

We can’t be afraid to fail, spiritually or materially.  We must step out as God’s children and do His work, showing kindness to everyone around us, willing to give of ourselves to help those in need.

When we do, we’re blessed.  But most of all, we’ll live in the Paradise of God for eternity (Rev. 2:7).