Once again we hear from you, the student, in Teen Choice Tuesday! This week we have Maggie Harris, a senior from Auburn High talking on fear in life. Enjoy and be filled.

For a long time I feared people not approving of what I said or the things I did. I couldn’t stand anyone being unhappy with me. I let these made up ideas and invisible thoughts of my family and friends control me.

But through experience I came to realize: there is no possible way to please everyone– you just can’t. People won’t always agree with my choices, my decisions, my words or my actions, but as long as one person is happy with me, nothing else matters. That is why my daily goal is to live a life pleasing to God.

The bible even says in Galatians 1:10 that you can not be a servant of Christ if your goal is to please people. (For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.)

It is so freeing to live for God’s pleasure alone, rather than constantly in fear of man’s irrelevant opinions. I think true joy is setting your heart and thoughts on unmovable objects and there are only two unmovable objects I know of…God and Heaven.

2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power, love, and self control.”

Fear is not something from God, rather something the enemy uses as a weapon against you. Therefore, don’t let what ever or who ever you fear take over your life like I did. There are so many of us (I used to be in this category) who live paralyzed in fear. Afraid to stand out, yet also afraid of being invisible. Afraid of something terrible happening, yet also afraid nothing good will ever happen. But one day you will come face to face with God and you are going to wish you didn’t spend your life in fear. Christ conquers all and is all that we need.

–Maggie