I must tell you that I grew up with some kind of fear of God. Maybe it is because of how God was presented to me from my early years. Many times, I was scolded by others. For instance - don’t do this because God will be angry at you. Or - go to church because if you skip Mass, you will have a sin. Be nice to others, otherwise God will punish you. So, I did try to follow the commandments and regulations because I was afraid of God’s anger and punishment. How wrong was that? It was much later when I began to understand that - yes, I must follow the commandments and be good to others, but not because of fearing God’s punishment but rather because I love Him and He loves me, and I don’t want to abuse that love and this relationship. Whenever I choose evil, I make God sad, because instead of choosing His love I chose an evil way. Jesus reminds us today that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Nobody wants an angry, revengeful, and punishing god. We would run away from a god like that. Luckily our God is different. He is loving, forgiving, understanding, and always ready to help us, even if we remain unfaithful towards Him.
Comments