Love and Fear: The Two Kingdoms
In the storied history of humanity, two forces stand out as the most powerful and influential: love and fear. These two emotions shape our decisions, our relationships, and our very existence. They are the very foundations of two biblical “kingdoms”, the kingdom of heaven that is based on a foundation of love, and the kingdom of this world, based on a foundation of fear.
Love is the most potent force in the universe. Love is God Himself. Love is the power to heal, to inspire, and to bring people together. When we are affected by love, we are at our best. We are confident and at peace. We sense that inner rightness of living from our true authentic self. We are in harmony with God, with all of His creation, and with ourselves.
Fear, on the other hand, is a primal emotion that has been hardwired into our brains for survival. We were created with the ability to fear, but our inner lives were not to be led by fear. It was meant to alert us to danger, to keep us safe, and help us to avoid harm, like when we see a large bear nearby.
However, if we are oblivious to the goodness of our heavenly Father, we can have an overriding sense of being alone, uncared for, unsafe and ashamed. We are prone to unnecessary fears. We use fear on each other. We can use fear in religion to motivate people. News media and politicians are notorious for inciting fear and hate in the populations. We will create rivalries and judge people unrighteously. Our fear begets anger, which begets hate, which begets suffering in this world.
It's all the result of our history of not truly knowing God and who we really are.
That’s why it’s important to, not only believe in God, but to know that He is wonderfully good, gracious and loving. We should know that He is actually our real Father and our source of all that pertains to life. More than any other thing that I can say about God, I want people to believe and to experience that God is good and more beautiful than we can express with words.
The kingdom of God is within us. When we realize our beloved origin in God, we return to Love, to healing, to wholeness. We find that holy place in our heart that satisfies our longings. We find rest for our soul. We begin to live on a foundation of love that casts out fear. We have entered the kingdom God.
When we live in love, we create a ripple effect that touches those around us. By loving who is in front of us, we make the world a little better, a little more like Heaven, and we inspire others to do the same.
I believe that God’s vision will surely come to pass, that “all the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God”. They all will know, because His goodness will be seen. It’s a slow burn, one heart at a time, but love will never pass away. It does not fail.