RECKLESS: “(of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action”
Reckless. Normally this is a word that you associate with something that is bad. If you say someone is reckless you are usually referring to him or her as doing something unsafe or being foolish. However I believe that us as Christians need to adapt this attitude of recklessness.
WE NEED TO BE RECKLESS FOR CHRIST!
Now what does that exactly mean? How do we adapt this style of being totally reckless for Christ?
I believe that the focal aspect of becoming reckless is to take what Paul says in Acts 20:24 and apply it to our lives. Paul is talking to the elders of the church in Ephesus and is referring to how he is going to travel to Jerusalem. Paul knows that if he goes to Jerusalem, terrible things will happen to him. He will most likely be thrown in jail if not killed, because of his faith. However, Paul doesn’t even hesitate about going where God has called him!
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” –Acts 20:24
Like Paul, we need to learn to adapt this reckless behavior for Christ. Now I am not saying go out and intentionally do dangerous things. What I am saying is we need to listen fully to God. We need to quit worrying about ourselves and realize that the only reason we are put on this Earth is to “testify to the good news of God’s grace” and worship the One who created all things. God will never give us more then we can handle. When He calls us to go somewhere that seems dangerous or a challenge, we need to just do it and walk fully in the knowledge that He will always protect us.
Think about it. What is the worst thing that can happen? We lose our life in this world but gain eternal life with our Father? Seems like a great trade off to me, because this world is not my home.
When we start to take on this attitude of recklessness, we “get over ourselves” and realize what God has called us to. One thing that we begin to break away from is the perceptions of how we are viewed by others.
So many times in life we hold back and refrain from either doing or saying something the Lord has told us, because we are fearful of how others will view us. We say all the time: we will go where You want us to, we will say what You want us to say, We will do what You want us to do. But do we TRULY do that?
Do not worry about what others think of you. If you doing what the Lord is calling you to do, then it DOES NOT MATTER what others think of you, because the Father will be proud of you and that is all that matters.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel is at the house of Jesse, looking to anoint the next king of Israel (David), when Samuel sees Jesse’s oldest son, who appears to make a great choice for a king, the Lord speaks to Samuel about how He views us.
The Lord says:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1st Samuel 16:7
People are going to reject us. People are going to judge us for what we look like and the actions we do. However, when these actions are for the Lord, it does not matter, because we know that the Lord is pleased. The Lord knows where our hearts are at.
When God tells us to do something or say something will we do it, or will we be afraid of how others will view us for it? We need to get past that and take on a role of fearless faith. When we hold back from fully doing what God calls us to, we are in essence going against what we say we believe in.
Now by no means am I saying I am living this type of reckless faith. There are still times where I fail the Lord and don’t do what He says and don’t speak to others because I am scared of what they will think of me. But, over these past two months I have fought hard to adapt this reckless faith and as I begin to walk in it, God has been revealing his amazing glory to me. I challenge anyone who reads this to truly ask the Lord to help you adapt this attitude of having reckless faith: to abandon the fear of others and fully listen and obey the Lord.
Reckless. Normally this is a word that you associate with something that is bad. If you say someone is reckless you are usually referring to him or her as doing something unsafe or being foolish. However I believe that us as Christians need to adapt this attitude of recklessness.
WE NEED TO BE RECKLESS FOR CHRIST!
Now what does that exactly mean? How do we adapt this style of being totally reckless for Christ?
I believe that the focal aspect of becoming reckless is to take what Paul says in Acts 20:24 and apply it to our lives. Paul is talking to the elders of the church in Ephesus and is referring to how he is going to travel to Jerusalem. Paul knows that if he goes to Jerusalem, terrible things will happen to him. He will most likely be thrown in jail if not killed, because of his faith. However, Paul doesn’t even hesitate about going where God has called him!
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” –Acts 20:24
Like Paul, we need to learn to adapt this reckless behavior for Christ. Now I am not saying go out and intentionally do dangerous things. What I am saying is we need to listen fully to God. We need to quit worrying about ourselves and realize that the only reason we are put on this Earth is to “testify to the good news of God’s grace” and worship the One who created all things. God will never give us more then we can handle. When He calls us to go somewhere that seems dangerous or a challenge, we need to just do it and walk fully in the knowledge that He will always protect us.
Think about it. What is the worst thing that can happen? We lose our life in this world but gain eternal life with our Father? Seems like a great trade off to me, because this world is not my home.
When we start to take on this attitude of recklessness, we “get over ourselves” and realize what God has called us to. One thing that we begin to break away from is the perceptions of how we are viewed by others.
So many times in life we hold back and refrain from either doing or saying something the Lord has told us, because we are fearful of how others will view us. We say all the time: we will go where You want us to, we will say what You want us to say, We will do what You want us to do. But do we TRULY do that?
Do not worry about what others think of you. If you doing what the Lord is calling you to do, then it DOES NOT MATTER what others think of you, because the Father will be proud of you and that is all that matters.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel is at the house of Jesse, looking to anoint the next king of Israel (David), when Samuel sees Jesse’s oldest son, who appears to make a great choice for a king, the Lord speaks to Samuel about how He views us.
The Lord says:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1st Samuel 16:7
People are going to reject us. People are going to judge us for what we look like and the actions we do. However, when these actions are for the Lord, it does not matter, because we know that the Lord is pleased. The Lord knows where our hearts are at.
When God tells us to do something or say something will we do it, or will we be afraid of how others will view us for it? We need to get past that and take on a role of fearless faith. When we hold back from fully doing what God calls us to, we are in essence going against what we say we believe in.
Now by no means am I saying I am living this type of reckless faith. There are still times where I fail the Lord and don’t do what He says and don’t speak to others because I am scared of what they will think of me. But, over these past two months I have fought hard to adapt this reckless faith and as I begin to walk in it, God has been revealing his amazing glory to me. I challenge anyone who reads this to truly ask the Lord to help you adapt this attitude of having reckless faith: to abandon the fear of others and fully listen and obey the Lord.
Side-note:
I am a big Jeremy Camp fan and this song off his new album helped spark this whole idea and this change in my faith towards recklessness.
I am a big Jeremy Camp fan and this song off his new album helped spark this whole idea and this change in my faith towards recklessness.
