Fear: transitive verb
1: to feel fear in (oneself)
2: to have a reverential awe of <fear God>
3: to be afraid of : expect with alarm <fear the worst>
intransitive verb: to be afraid or apprehensive <feared for their lives>
Fear: noun
1: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. 2: a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.
3: concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4: reverential awe, esp. toward God. 5: that which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: Cancer is a common fear.
A few months ago, one of my friends told me that there are only two motivators of our actions: fear and love. When she first said it, I brushed it off. After all, I thought, if I was to truly accept myself and allow myself to be accepted by others and God, I will never achieve to be the way that I want to be. This is a very common fear about acceptance and love. People believe that if they love themselves, they will not change for the better or they'll "allow themselves to slide".
"The acceptance of self does not mean to be resigned to the status quo. On the contrary, the more fully we accept ourselves, the more successfully we begin to grow. Love is a far better stimulus than threat or pressure" (From The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning)
Fear fosters negative emotions like guilt, shame, depression, anger, anxiety, and eventually hopelessness. These emotions, in turn, will eventually turn you away from the life you want to live. When we actually accept ourselves, we stop being so concerned with being powerful or popular. We realize that we don't need to please others because we begin to appreciate life and love ourselves, therefore allowing us to move through peace.
2: to have a reverential awe of <fear God>
3: to be afraid of : expect with alarm <fear the worst>
intransitive verb: to be afraid or apprehensive <feared for their lives>
Fear: noun
1: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. 2: a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.
3: concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4: reverential awe, esp. toward God. 5: that which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: Cancer is a common fear.
A few months ago, one of my friends told me that there are only two motivators of our actions: fear and love. When she first said it, I brushed it off. After all, I thought, if I was to truly accept myself and allow myself to be accepted by others and God, I will never achieve to be the way that I want to be. This is a very common fear about acceptance and love. People believe that if they love themselves, they will not change for the better or they'll "allow themselves to slide".
"The acceptance of self does not mean to be resigned to the status quo. On the contrary, the more fully we accept ourselves, the more successfully we begin to grow. Love is a far better stimulus than threat or pressure" (From The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning)
Fear fosters negative emotions like guilt, shame, depression, anger, anxiety, and eventually hopelessness. These emotions, in turn, will eventually turn you away from the life you want to live. When we actually accept ourselves, we stop being so concerned with being powerful or popular. We realize that we don't need to please others because we begin to appreciate life and love ourselves, therefore allowing us to move through peace.
"In love, there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to perfection in love" ~1 John 4:18
It is only when we accept that we are truly powerless and that we need not expect ourselves to live up to unreachable standards that we can be made into something beautiful through God. Even though we think that we have to be punished for not achieving or threatened into achieving, it is actually quite the opposite. Once all of that is abandoned, God can work in us, bringing us up into a life that is much more full and much more real. If we can just trust God, we will be able to do so much more than a life lived in fear.
It is only when we accept that we are truly powerless and that we need not expect ourselves to live up to unreachable standards that we can be made into something beautiful through God. Even though we think that we have to be punished for not achieving or threatened into achieving, it is actually quite the opposite. Once all of that is abandoned, God can work in us, bringing us up into a life that is much more full and much more real. If we can just trust God, we will be able to do so much more than a life lived in fear.
"If the blind puth their hand in God's, they find their way more surely than those who see but have not faith nor purpose."
~Helen Keller
~Helen Keller
I suppose that we will have to allow ourselves to be blinded until God can bring us to a spot of peace, a place where our fears no longer haunt us, and a place where we are finally able to trust.
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