God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear} Part One

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening,
this post would take approximately three to five minutes to read from start to finish.

This post is based on an article from Ensign; October 1984 and it is called, “God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear" by President Gordon B. Hinckley. This post is part one. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the article and I hope you will learn something new.

President Hinckley mentioned, .. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:6–7.) Who among us can say that he or she has not felt fear? I know of no one who has been entirely spared. Some, of course, experience fear to a greater degree than do others. 

Some are able to rise above it quickly, but others are trapped and pulled down by it and even driven to defeat. We suffer from the fear of ridicule, the fear of failure, the fear of loneliness, the fear of ignorance. Some fear the present, some the future. Some carry the burden of sin and would give almost anything to unshackle themselves from those burdens but fear to change their lives. Let us recognize that fear comes not of God, but rather that this gnawing, destructive element comes from the adversary of truth and righteousness. Fear is the antithesis of faith. It is corrosive in its effects, even deadly.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” .. They give us power. What power? The power of the gospel, the power of truth, the power of faith, the power of the priesthood.

There is a mighty strength that comes of the knowledge that you and I are sons and daughters of God. Within us is something of divinity. .. Let us encourage the divinity within us to come to the surface. For example, we need not fear ridicule because of our faith. We all occasionally have felt a little of such ridicule. But there is a power within us that can rise above ridicule, that can, in fact, even turn it to good.

FEAR

... God has given us the power of the gospel to lift us above our fears. God has given us the power of truth. President Joseph F. Smith once declared: “We believe in all truth, no matter to what subject it may refer. No sect or religious denomination [or, I may say, no searcher of truth] in the world possesses a single principle of truth that we do not accept or that we will reject. We are willing to receive all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand, truth will endure.” (Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939, p. 1.)

We have nothing to fear when we walk by the light of eternal truth. But we had better be discerning. ... We need not fear as long as we have in our lives the power that comes from righteously living by the truth which is from God our Eternal Father.

Nor need we fear as long as we have the power of faith. ... We are pained by the desecration of that which to us is holy. But we need not fear. This cause is greater than any man. It will outlast all its enemies. We need only go forward by the power of faith without fear. ... 

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love. …”

Love of what? Love for the Lord, love for his work, his cause, and his kingdom; love for people, love for one another.

I have seen time and again that love of God can bridge the chasm of fear. Love for the Church can also lift one above doubt. ... It was easy to wonder about many things, to question things in life, in the world, in the Church, in aspects of the gospel. But it was also a season of gladness and a season of love. Behind such thoughts, there was for me an underlying foundation of love that came from great parents and a good family, a wonderful bishop, devoted and faithful teachers, and the scriptures to read and ponder."

You may or may not would like to read the whole article in your own time. Here is the link below.
www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1984/10/god-hath-not-given-us-the-spirit-of-fear

Stay Tuned until next time.