by Liz Cosline

Created on: February 07, 2009

There is a huge difference between having respect and fear. Fear in most cases has the feeling that there will be punishment coming down on a person from the being feared. There is a feeling that you are going to be judged in a harsh way and no longer will you be looked at in the same way. Anger will come your way and you might be told you are not as good anymore.

God, to me, is a loving being. A help when things go wrong and cheering as things go right. God directs our lives if we allow this and saddened when we turn a deaf ear. Though there are accounts in the Bible about the wrath of God, I don't see an angry God that must be feared. I see a gentle being with more power than is imaginable but use it as we ask for it and do our part. I see a being that knows we are going to make mistakes and wants us to learn from those mistakes. I see that God wants us to come to our own decision to engage in life and find the joys that he wishes us to have. I see a being full of life with immense love for the people of this earth.

To fear a being that is all about us does not make sense. Fear often if not always makes people be cautious and even turn or run away. Fear has being keep the truth to themselves or at time lie in a thought to protect themselves. Fear closes people down and may feel they can no longer be themselves. Fear can be crippling and get energies to stop flowing. Fear can even stop people from fully living at times.

Should we fear God? I cannot believe that he would ever want this. I do not believe he would want anything to hold us back. However, there is a respect that he simply deserves from me. There is a place in me that holds him in the highest regard and celebrates him. He deserves to know and be told by me just how important he is in my life. He deserves to have me notice how he works in my life and to be thanked for that. He has the right to be thanked by me. I have also realized that he deserves to have more of my time in celebrating him.

It is not about fear and I do not believe he would ask us to fear him. It is more about the choices people make and are allowed to make. When thinking about God it seems more about people choosing to respect him having it be a gift from them. It comes down to honoring this magnificent being in the true definition of the word. Because fear is put upon a person and is a negative energy where honoring is very positive and is about uplifting. I believe God is all about positive energy.

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