Thursday, April 22, 2010

Love and uniqueness

Lately I have been thinking about different things that have been happening in my life. One thing I've been thinking a lot about is the word "fear". I hear so many things of......be scared of this, be scared of that.....you don't know what's going to happen......be scared of these people, etc. And there are lots of fear tactics too. So it's been bugging me and I read in the scriptures that the opposite of fear.....is love. 1 John 4:18 " There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
Why do we do the things we do sometimes. Is it out of fear or out of love. Do we obey our Father in Heaven out of fear of the horrible judgement that might come upon us if we don't do exactly what He says? Or is it out of love for Him and our fellow beings. I hope it's the latter but lately I've been hearing more and more of the first. And I'm really tired of it so I've been doing more concentrating on why I do somethings and doing them with my heart.
I also try to think of myself as someone who kinda goes with the flow. I can't stand contention so I avoid it like the plague. I wonder though......when is it time to step in and say, "Enough"? How far do you let people push you or try to control you? I've had long discussions with Steve and some friends about this topic. And I know everyone is different with how far they will let things go. This week I had my "enough" moment but I'm not sure where to go from here. I feel it's important for all of us to be unique.....to be different. We all shouldn't be exactly the same or feel like we should be or to have it forced upon us.
Well.....just some things going through my head.

3 comments:

Lesa said...

Hope everything is going ok for you! I completely agree about doing things out of love instead of fear of punishment. I think it's something that a lot of people, especially me, have to work on. Thanks for the post! Love you!

Cap said...

I think when it comes to the gospel people are too quick to rely on fear. Do this or else, or do that or else. That is not how I see God. He is not some tyrant--some mythical being that we are so far away from. He is our Father! He loves us like a father would. And so we should do things out of love. This is how I've been trying to live. I think when you start seeing things in that way you behave differently.
As far as the "enough" moments go. I think it is important to stand up for yourself and others. If someone is relentlessly pushing I think you should say "enough". Everyone is a person and have their own opinions and feelings. They should be respected and if they aren't then the "enough" moment must come.
I hope that makes sense.

Maureen said...

Oh how I agree with you..I think when people push and bully they have a purpose and that purpose is to make themselves feel better, mostly because they know you'll put up with it because you hate contention or you want to keep the peace and they know it, so they feel like they have the power, until that moment like you said you say "enough is enough"..you can tell this has been on my mind to..You rock and don't EVER let anyone push your buttons..let the person have there own issues without involving you or those you love..