First Peter 2:17 perfectly captures the essence of this week’s devotionals, especially the last two sentences – “Fear God. Honor the emperor.” Unfortunately, we likely will never agree 100 percent with any candidate or elected political officials’ views. They will eventually say or do something that we, as Christians, disagree with. But this is why Peter’s words are so important. We can still respect a person or a political system while disagreeing with some aspects.

But that person or system should never be feared. Only God should be feared. In fact, fearing God is mentioned more than 300 times in the Bible. God is the only One deserving of a reverent fear. Our fear of God is not like being scared (spiders, heights, clowns, etc.) but out of reverence to Him and understanding who He is. This fear draws us closer to Him; it doesn’t push us further away.

• How have you viewed a “fear of God” before today?
• Do you fear God because you are scared or because you are in awe of Him? Why?