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by Archbishop Iakovos
Fear arises from the absence of God's love in a person's life. Of course,
God's love is always available to anyone who wishes to receive it. But many
times, we ignore the hand that God lovingly holds out to comfort, encourage
and guide us into his family circle. When we neglect or turn away from his
love, worries, anxieties, and finally deep fears may grab hold of us.
Yet, when we open ourselves to God's love and let his compassion and concern
for us fill our lives, fear fades and eventually disappears. As St John puts
it in his First Epistle "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts
out fear..."
Why does a lack of love cause us to be fearful? St John goes on to explain
that fear is linked to punishment, while God's love through the sacrifice of
his Son has removed the threat of ultimate punishment. Yet many times, we
allow the power of God's love to slip away from us, and the dread of
punishment to creep back in.
Sometimes, this happens because we disobey God in some way and, as a result,
we develop a guilty conscience. There's a very deep sense within us that if
we violate God's laws or step outside his will, something bad may happen.
Some punishment may strike.
Some might argue that such feelings of guilt are unhealthy, and we should do
everything in our power, through psychotherapy or any other means, to get
rid of them. But I'm not so sure. I think that feelings of guilt, those
prickings of a conscience that has been violated by certain improper or
immoral acts, may be a very healthy thing. After all the rules of behavior
that God has established in this world are not optional. The universe
operates according to certain laws relating to our health, our sexuality,
our personal morality, and our relationships. And there are likely to be
consequences if we decide we won't follow these laws.
Still, I'm not one of those people who believes that God will routinely
reach down from some seat in heaven and smack us if we step out of line.
The way he operates is generally much more loving, subtle, and parental than
that. More often, when we step outside of God's will and begin trying to
live by our own wills, we'll get a sense that something is not quite right.
Often, we may first experience anxiety; then, a wave of fear may sweep over
us, as we wonder where our lives are going and what traps we may fall
into...
God offers his love to us in a direct, warm, caring beam of divine light.
His love streams directly from his heart to ours. All we need do is
receive, in order to enjoy it fully and bask in its comforting rays. But for
us to receive God's love in its fullness, we must have a genuine
relationship with him in our innermost beings. It's essential that we in
some sense be in union with him as a result of a decision to love, trust and
follow his Son. Then, when we've established and developed such a
relationship, we find that we, in turn, can become human channels for the
great powerful agape love that we've received from God. We can return love
to him, and we can also express this same love to others, in much the same
way God has expressed it to us.
Source: Faith For A Lifetime: A Spiritual Journey, pp. 48,100-101; Doubleday 1988
See Also:
The Sacrifice
of...Fools!
1 Samuel 15:22 tells us
that, "to obey is better than sacrifice." God Himself
reiterates this concept in Hosea 6:6 by saying, "I
delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice."
Me and God
A Good Lesson for those who are on the verge of losing Hope and contemplating 'Quitting Life.'
I Believe ...
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything; they just make the most of everything..
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