The apostle Peter found victory over his fear and insecurity in God’s grace. He learned to trust the Lord on the journey of being like Jesus, consecrating himself to God. Is there a closet, a door in your heart that has been closed to God, locked, an area of your life, a fear, that you need to give to the Lord? Jesus says, “Follow me.” Give it to the Father. Consecrate it to God.

The Christian life can be described as growth in consecration to God. It is learning to dedicate our lives to God in increasingly greater measure. The apostle Paul urged God’s people to consecrate themselves to God as living sacrifices in grateful worship for what Christ has done for us. This means dedication to knowing and doing the will of God (Rom. 12:1-2).
Jesus is our greatest example of consecration to God. The Gospel of John emphasizes this truth. It is amazing how much of the words of Christ quoted in John refer to Christ’s dedication to doing His Father’s will. To become more like Jesus is to become more dedicated to doing the will of our Father, too.
We have a problem, however, and that is the fact that knowledge of God’s will and a fundamental dedication to doing His will does not automatically result in our actually doing it. We are in a constant battle with the world, our flesh, and the devil. We often struggle with embracing and doing God’s will, especially if it includes suffering.
At times, we all resist consecration like Peter.
Consider this passage from the Gospel of John.
21:15-17 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”[1]
Jesus said to Peter that, if Peter loved Him, he needed to follow Christ’s will for his life. What was Jesus’s will for Peter? To shepherd His sheep, to lead, care for, to teach His people. But Jesus was calling Peter to something more than this. Jesus continued,
21:18-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them…he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”
Peter’s struggle.
Peter struggled with the loss of liberty and physical suffering foretold by Christ. If he did what Jesus wanted him to do, it would be hard. It meant shame, pain, humiliation. Peter seemed to also struggle with fairness– the possibility that others who serve Christ might not be called to the same level of suffering as what faced him.
Peter did love Jesus. He loved Him deeply despite his weakness. What Peter needed to understand was that true love for Jesus can be measured. Love for Jesus is measured by one’s dedication to doing the will of God, even if it means suffering. Peter needed greater consecration to God, willingness to be vulnerable, willingness to put himself at risk, to follow Jesus.
At times, we all need to be reminded of the goal of life.
The goal of life is not to avoid pain, sorrow, and suffering. The godless world around us continually pounds us with life goals of pleasure, security, and self-preservation. We are urged to do whatever pleases us; do all we can to avoid being uncomfortable, triggered, upset, or stressed; stay away from toxic or negative people, or anyone that doesn’t tell us what we want to hear. Goals like these are folly, unrealistic. Even if we could attain such a life, it would be unfulfilling, empty, and miserable.
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Christian fellowship is not merely jokes and friendly banter. Unity in Christ, lives centered on Him, and living as those who have a participation in the gospel and are partakers of grace are what are meant by being brought into fellowship. It is that which the outside world will not have. It is that which Christians have as we see the mission to which Christ has called us, and we set our affection on him and pursue his calling.

When we hear the word fellowship or Christian fellowship today, the image that comes to mind most frequently is a potluck supper after church when everyone is laughing and enjoying each other’s company. We envision spending time in small groups and hosting Christian church friends in our homes. Anything goes as long as Christians are having a good time talking to one another. But does the Bible mean that when it talks of Christian fellowship? Christian community goes beyond what one can experience in a neighborhood bar, Starbucks, or barbershop. It is more comparable to individuals who are conscripted from varied backgrounds, given a task, and then figure that out in their engagements as soldiers.
In the first few verses of his letter to the Philippians, Paul provides what is meant by Christian fellowship. To state the obvious, but for Paul, Christ is the centering and grounding element of Christian community. He lays it out for us in Philippians 1:5 and 1:7. He tells the Philippians in 1:4 that he prays joyfully for them, and he explains in 1:5 why: “for your fellowship (the word can alternatively be rendered as partnership or participation) in the gospel.” He informs them that “you all are partakers with me of grace” in 1:7. As we reflect on what Paul is saying, it becomes clear that fellowship is much more than just having coffee with a Christian friend to pray. While it might involve going out for coffee, the essence of it revolves around taking part in what God is doing in the world. We are included in it and have our unity around Christ and his mission.
I hesitate to use an illustration drawn from Lord of the Rings, but I believe it will help us better understand the concept of fellowship. 
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Written by Derek J. Brown |
Sunday, October 23, 2022
A growing understanding of the gospel is the most important component in our battle with unhealthy introspection. We need to understand what God has done for us in Christ, so that we will look to Christ and his completed work for us, instead of constantly looking to ourselves.

The following is a response to an email I received a while ago.  A dear brother contacted me and asked me if I could expand on an entry I had posted. Specifically, he wanted to know if and how the Lord had helped me make progress in dealing with unhealthy introspective tendencies and spiritual depression. Below is the letter with a few slight edits for clarity.
Dear Friend,
Thank you again for your email. An inclination toward severe introspection and spiritual depression is something that has affected me since early in my Christian life, and I still find myself battling introspective tendencies and spiritual depression.
When I first came to Christ, I noticed immediately that I tended toward a severe examination of my inner life—my motives, my affections for God and for others, my faith in Christ, my holiness. Far from bringing me peace and assurance in my relationship with Christ, this propensity to question every inner-working of my heart instead brought much doubt, confusion and, inevitably, depression.
Yet, I can say that, by God’s grace, I have made significant progress in this area. As I reflect on the past several years, I can see specific means of grace that God has used to help me turn from an unhealthy preoccupation with self and sin—with the depression that inevitably follows—to a growing focus on the gospel and others. The following are several disciplines I have found to be particularly helpful in my fight against what Martin Lloyd Jones calls “morbid introspection” and the resultant spiritual depression.
A few words, first, about the following points. First, it is important to remember that overcoming introspective tendencies does not mean that we are to disregard all forms of self-examination. Sober-minded, thoughtful, doctrinally informed self-examination is required for believers (2 Cor. 13:5), and is, when conducted correctly, a means of real joy and peace.
Second, the following list includes those things I have found to be beneficial to me. It is a personal list. I hope and trust that much of what I offer here is grounded in Scripture. Nevertheless, it will be important for you to not receive this as an infallible map to spiritual health but rather as helpful suggestions as you continue to walk daily with the Lord, learning from his Word and from other counselors.
The first point (a robust understanding of the gospel), however, lays the foundation for everything else. Without this important point, our battle against morbid introspection and depression will malfunction at a fundamental level. With those two cautions in mind, let’s turn to considering the following points.
1. We need a robust understanding of the gospel.
I put this first because it is the most important. I have found that my tendency toward severe introspection is compounded to the degree that I am not seeing the gospel in all its beauty and doctrinal fullness. Specifically, this has meant understanding and embracing the important doctrines of justification, sanctification, and indwelling sin.
Justification: Scripture teaches that justification is the act of God by which he declares us wholly forgiven and righteous in his sight and on the basis of Christ’s perfect life and substitutionary death on the cross (Rom. 3:21-26; 5:1; 8:1), not upon any work that we have done or will do (Rom. 4:5; II Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3:4-7).
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