What do you fear?
"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - FDR
We are all driven by fear to some degree: the fear or rejection, of being alone, of not being accepted, of being unsuccessful ... etc. It can be such an overbearing dominance in our lives that it make me wonder what kind of fears are dictating my way of life. Ideally, we ought to be freed from these fears. Having put our faith in God, we ought to fear nothing, because He is with us always. Ironically, I find that I am becoming increasingly afriad of myself.
When I look deep inside my heart, I know the wickedness I am capable of, the many sins I could commit, the ways I can manipulate others around me. The depravity of my heart has become more evident to me through my two years overseas, and now as I reenter into this American culture, I can't help but wonder how long I can survive here without being thoroughly corrupted by this world. Frankly, it's too easy to turn your back on your faith, even if you know first hand the faithfulness and goodness of God. Our hearts are prone to wander, prone to reject the very thing that gave us a new life.
I share the apostle Paul's thoughts here in Roman 7
"14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
We are all driven by fear to some degree: the fear or rejection, of being alone, of not being accepted, of being unsuccessful ... etc. It can be such an overbearing dominance in our lives that it make me wonder what kind of fears are dictating my way of life. Ideally, we ought to be freed from these fears. Having put our faith in God, we ought to fear nothing, because He is with us always. Ironically, I find that I am becoming increasingly afriad of myself.
When I look deep inside my heart, I know the wickedness I am capable of, the many sins I could commit, the ways I can manipulate others around me. The depravity of my heart has become more evident to me through my two years overseas, and now as I reenter into this American culture, I can't help but wonder how long I can survive here without being thoroughly corrupted by this world. Frankly, it's too easy to turn your back on your faith, even if you know first hand the faithfulness and goodness of God. Our hearts are prone to wander, prone to reject the very thing that gave us a new life.
I share the apostle Paul's thoughts here in Roman 7
"14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.